


An Angels Love

by CastielsGrace666



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha Chuck Shurley, Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha Sam Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Twilight Fusion, Better than Twilight, F/F, F/M, M/M, Omega Anna Milton, Omega Gabriel, Parents Becky Rosen and Chuck Shurley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:20:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24435757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielsGrace666/pseuds/CastielsGrace666
Summary: This is basically a rewrite of twilight, but supernatural style. Not trying to steal Stephanie Myers work. Original story is all hers.Instead of vampires, this is about Angels, Demons and Shifters.Supernatural creatures have ABO dynamics. Humans are basically betas, they have no idea about Alphas and Omegas.
Relationships: Anna Milton/Dean Winchester, Becky Rosen/Chuck Shurley, Castiel (Supernatural)/Original Female Character(s), Charlie Bradbury/Jo Harvelle, Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

FIRST SIGHT  
  
As Raven's mother drove her to the airport, she rolled the windows down. It was seventy-five degrees in Scranton, the sky a cloudless blue. Raven was wearing her favorite shirt - sleeveless, black with iridescent blue wings protecting a battered heart; she had decided to wear it as a last farewell to Pennsylvania. Her carry-on items were a violin , and a trumpet.  
  
She was on her way to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere Illinois. Pontiac is an inconsequential town with more disappearances than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this suspicious little town that her mother claimed to have escaped with her when Raven was only a few months old.

It was this town, that seemed to get under Raven's skin, until she agreed to spend every summer there until she was fourteen. That was the year her mother put her foot down claiming that she should be focusing on more important things ; these past three summers, Raven's dad, Joe, had been forced to come to Scranton for two weeks instead. 

To say she was relieved to be going back would be an understatement . While she didn't understand why, she knew that the itch and anxiety under her skin would fade as soon as she got there. 

Raven's mom turns to her and says - for the last of a thousand times - before Raven could escape to the plane. "You don't have to do this."  
  
Raven's mom looks like her, except with short hair and laugh lines. Raven could feel a spasm of pity as she stares at her mother's wide, concerned eyes. She knows her mother is trying give her an out. But she also knows that her mother wishes she would leave. Her loving, erratic, harebrained mother, who basically raised Raven alone, is sick of her. Sick of Raven's constant depression. The anxiety. Sick of having a daughter who's unable to be normal. Yes she loved her, but she was tired of dealing with her.

Of course she has Bryan now, so her mom won't be alone, the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost. Now all she needed was for Raven to reassure her and she'd finally be fully happy.   
  
"I want to go," Raven assures her. "I miss the woods, and the clean air, being able to see the stars at night"   
  
"Tell youre father I said hi."  
  
"I will."  
  
"I'll see you soon," her mom insisted. "You can come home whenever you want -I'll come right back as soon as you need me". 

Raven nods along even though she knows it's a lie. She can feel it in her gut that from here on out, her mother is going to avoid her as much as possible. Even though it hurts, Raven is relieved to no longer be dragging her mom down. 

It's a two in a half hour flight from Scranton to Pontiac. Another hour was added on because there was a flight delay. Then a 45 minute drive to get back home. Flying doesn't bother her; it's the thought of having to start a new school that does. Any friends she may have had, probably wouldn't remember her by now. Or worse they'd think she abandoned them on purpose.   
  
Raven's dad has really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that she chose to come live with him. Raven was just relieved that she wouldn't be forced back to a city again. Her dad already registered Raven for highschool and he even agreed to help her get a car.  
  
While Raven may not have been what people call "chatty" or "social" her father more than made up for it by telling her everything she missed over the passed few years. It was reassuring to know that her father wasn't going to try and force a conversation out of her. Raven had gotten into more than a few arguments with her mother about that. 

Raven was pulled out of her thoughts by her father asking her a question. 

"How's Clarissa"?  
  
"Mom's fine, she told me to say hello to you for her."   
  
Raven had only brought a few bags with her. Most of her clothes were too preppy for Raven, it had been her mom's way of trying to make her happier. In reality it had just made her feel worse. So she had pooled allathe unwanted clothes together and donated them to the local homeless shelter. She had wrapped all the unused make-up and donated half to woman's shelters for them to use for job interviews, the other half is supposed to be a gift for her friend Charlie. All she really brought with her was a box full of clothes and 3 boxes full of books.   
  
"I found a good car for you, really cheap," her dad announced.   
  
"What kind of car?"   
  
"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."  
  
"Where did you find it?"  
  
"Do you remember Bobby Singer, down at Singer's Salvage?"   
  
Singer Salvage was the only repair shop her dad went to, so Raven met the man alot in her childhood . He was almost like her uncle. "Yes, we used to go fishing with him every summer. And the two of you were hunting buddies ".  
  
  
  
  
"He's in a wheelchair now,"  
  
"What happened to him?" Raven could see him frown at the question. " We were hunting something and it turned out to be bigger than we originally thought. It ended up throwing Bobby hard enough that when he landed against the tree, it paralyzed him".  
  
"Anyway, Bobby's done a lot of work on the engine - it's only a few yearsold, really."

Sensing that her father didn't want to talk about the accident anymore, Raven went with the subject change. 

When did he buy it?"  
  
"He bought it in 1984, I think."  
  
"Did he buy it new?"  
  
"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties - or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.  
  
"Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic..."  
  
"Really, Raven, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."  
  
  
"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part Raven couldn't compromise on.  
  
"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Her dad peeked sideways at her with a hopeful expression.  
  
Wow. Free. "You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."  
  
"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Her dad wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. Raven had inherited that from him. So looking straight ahead in a way that mirrored her father, Raven said,   
  
"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." Raven felt the need to add " you know I've always been happiest here no matter what, not to mention I would never look a free truck in the mouth - or engine."   
  
"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled,embarrassed by Raven's thanks.

In the silence, Raven began thinking about the forest. It was beautiful, of course. Everything was green:the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.  
  
  
  
Eventually they made it home. Her dad still lived in the small,two-bedroom house that he'd bought with her mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had - the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was Raven's new - well, new to her - truck. It was a faded red color,with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. Raven loved it. It was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged -the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.  
  
"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now Raven's day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful. She drive now, instead of arriving in her dad's cop car. She would walk but if it rains her father never would have let her.   
  
"I'm glad you like it,"   
  
It took only one trip to get all Raven's stuff upstairs. She got the west bedroom, it faced out over the front yard. The room was the same one she'd used since birth. 

The wooden floor, the ocean blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the black lace curtains around the window -these were all a part of Raven's childhood. The only changes her dad had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as she grew. The desk now held a secondhand laptop, with the wifi box on the floor next to it. He had bought them so Raven could stay in touch with her friends. The rocking chair from her baby days was still in the corner.

There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.

One of the best things about Raven's dad, is that he doesn't hover. He leaves her alone, so she can unpack and get settled. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look happy; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window and let just a few tears escape. She wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. That wouldn't happen until bedtime, when she had nothing but time to get lost in her mind.   
  
Pontiac High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven - now fifty-eight - students; there were more than seven hundred people in Raven's junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together - their grandparents had been toddlers together.  
  
Raven would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak. Maybe, if she looked like some of the other girls around here, but she never fit in anywhere. Raven should be tan,sporty, blond - a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps - all the things that go with living in the city.  
  
Instead, Raven was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. She had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; she didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating herself - and harming anyone else who stood too close. Yeah she ran alot, but that hadn't helped build her upper body.  
  
When she finishes putting the clothes in her old pine dresser, she takes her bathroom necessities and went to the bathroom to clean up after the day of travel. Looking at her face in the mirror, Raven brushes through her tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but her face looked sallower, unhealthy. Her skin could be pretty - it was very clear, almost translucent-looking- but it all depended on color. Raven had more color here, so maybe she had a chance.

Facing her pallid reflection in the mirror, Raven was forced to admit that she was lying to herself. It wasn't just physically that she'd never fit in. And if she couldn't find a niche in a school that had over three thousand people, what were her chances here?  
  
Raven couldn't relate well with people her age. Actually, Raven couldn't relate well to people in general. Even her mother who Raven was closer to than anyone else on the planet, never wanted to be around her longer than necessary. They never could get on the exact same page. Sometimes she wondered if she was seeing the same things through her eyes that the rest of the world saw through theirs.

At this point Raven accepted that maybe there was a glitch in her brain. The cause of her freakish behavior didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning.  
  
Raven didn't sleep well that night, even after crying. The constant chatter in her brain kept her up with whispers of how pathetic she was. Even after pulling the faded old quilt over her head and later adding the pillow, too, the voices kept telling her ways that she'll fuck everything up tomorrow. Raven ended up staying awake until 4am before finally passing out. 

When her alarm woke her the next morning, all she could see out the window was fog and she could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on her. Raven never felt comfortable when she couldn't see her surroundings.   
  
Breakfast with her dad was a quiet event. He wished her good luck at school and she thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid her. Her father left first, off to the police station. After he left, Raven sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined the small kitchen. It had dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and a white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed since her mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Raven's mom and dad in Las Vegas, then one of the three of them in the hospital after she born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of Raven's school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at - she would have to deal with it though, for some reason her father loved bragging about her. 

Speaking of which, it was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that her father was still in love with her her mom. It made her feel bad for him.  
  
Raven didn't want to be too early for school, but she couldn't stand the claustrophobia anymore. Throwing on her jacket she ran out the door, into the rain and fog.   
  
It was still drizzling, not enough to soak Raven through, but enough to be noticed as she grabbed the key and locked up the house. Raven was just thankful the boots she was wearing were waterproof. Raven couldn't pause and admire her truck again because she was in a hurry to get rid of the thoughts that swirled around in her head. She knew if she could get through the first day, it wouldn't be so bad.   
  
Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Bobby or her father must've cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint. The engine started quickly, to Raven's relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that she hadn't thought of.  
  


Finding the school wasn't difficult, though she'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Pontiac High School, made her stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs Raven didn't notice the size at first.

Where was the feel of the institution? Raven wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences,the metal detectors? This was nothing like her other schools. 

Raven parks in front of the first building, which has a small sign over the door stating that it's the front office. No one else was parked there, so she was pretty sure it was off limits, but decided she could get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. She steps unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walks down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. Taking a deep breath before opening the door, she sees that the room she entered was brightly lit, and warmer than she hoped.

The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, adding to the warm feeling she had. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front.

There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made Raven feel like she dressed wrong.  
  
The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"  
  
"I'm Raven Fox," she infor her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. Raven was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.  
  
"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show Raven.  
  
She went through my classes for Raven, highlighting the best route to each class on the map, and gave her a slip to have each teacher sign, which had to be brought back at the end of the day. She smiled at Raven and hoped that she would like it here in Pontiac. Raven smiled back as convincingly as she could.

  
  
When she got back out to her truck other students were starting to arrive. Raven drove around the school, following the line of traffic, glad to see that most of the cars were older like hers, nothing flashy. At home she'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the district. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Lincoln Continental, and it stood out. Still, she cut the engine as soon as she found a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to her.  
  
Looking at the map in the truck, she began trying to memorize it now; hopefully she wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of her nose all day. Stuffing everything into her bag, and slinging the strap over her shoulder, Raven sucked in a huge calming breath. I can do this, Raven lied to herself feebly. No one was going to bite her. She finally exhales and steps out of the truck.  
  
Keeping her hair pulled back into the hood as she walks to the sidewalk, which was crowded with teenagers Raven notices that her plain black jacket doesn't stand out, and sighs in relief.  
  
Once she got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. Feeling her breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation Raven approches the door. As she tries holding her breath she follows two unisex raincoats through the door.

The classroom was small. The people in front of her stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. As she copied them, she noticed that they were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least her skin wouldn't be a standout here.  
  
Taking the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at Raven when he saw her name - not an encouraging response - and of course Raven flushed tomato red. But at least he sent her to an empty desk at the back without introducing her to the class. It was harder for her new classmates to stare at her in the back, but somehow, they managed. Raven kept her eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given her. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. She'd already read everything. That was comforting... and boring. Raven wondered if her mom would send the folder of old essays, or if she would accuse Raven of cheating. Raven went through different arguments in her head while the teacher droned on.

  
When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with eyes like an overexcited puppy and hair as brown as milk chocolate looked at her. "You're Raven DeFalco, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.  
  
"Raven Fox" she corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at her.

"I have my mother's last name, not my father's" she said nervously.  
  
"Where's your next class?" he asked.  
  
Raven went to check in her bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."  
  
There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.  
  
"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way..." Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Garth," he added.  
  
Raven smiled tentatively. "Thanks."  
  
We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. Raven could have sworn several people behind them were walking close enough to eavesdrop. She hoped she wasn't being paranoid.  
  
"So, this is a lot different than Scranton, huh?" he asked.  
  
"Very."  
  
"It doesn't have many woods there, does it?"  
  
"Two or three if you don't mind driving."  
  
"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.  
  
"Crowded and boring" Raven told him.  
  
"You don't look very tan."  
  
"My mother is part albino."  
  
He studied her face apprehensively, and she sighed. It looked like this school and a sense of humor didn't mix. A few months of this and she'd forget how to use sarcasm.  
  
They walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Garth walked her right to the door, though it was clearly marked.  
  
"Well, good luck," he said as she touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful

Raven smiled at him vaguely and went inside.  
  
The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. Raven's Trigonometry teacher, Mr.Adler, who she would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made her stand in front of the class and introduce herself. Raven stammers, blushes, and trips over her own boots on the way to her seat.  
  
After two classes, she started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask her questions about how she was liking Pontiac. Raven tried to be diplomatic, but mostly she just lied a lot. At least she never needed the map.  
  
One girl sat next to her in both Trig and Latin, and she walked with her to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than Raven's five feet eight inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between their heights. Raven couldn't remember her name, so she smiled and nodded as the girl prattled about teachers and classes. Raven didn't even try to keep up.  
  
They sat at the end of a full table with several of the girl's friends, who she introduced to Raven. Sadly Raven forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to Raven. The boy from English, Garth, waved at Raven from across the room.  
  
It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that Raven first saw them.

  
  
They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where Raven sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at her, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, Raven's attention.  
  
They didn't look anything alike. Of the four boys, one was big - muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dirty blonde, spikey hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and brunette with his hair just above his shoulders. The third was about the same height as the first, with lean muscles, less bulky, with broader shoulders, he looked more like a swimmer, or runner, than a weight lifter. He had untidy, black-colored sex hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students. The final boy was short, especially compared to the Sasquatch of a human next to him .He had honey blond hair, down to his shoulders, and a lithe frame. He looked like he still had muscle, just not like the others.   
  
The girl was short and pixie like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep crimson red, that went down her back and stopped mid way down.  
  
And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, about as pale as Raven, ifinot paler. Most of them had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. With the exception of the sex haired one, who had the bluest eyes Raven's ever seen. They also had dark shadows under those eyes - purplish, bruiselike shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.  
  
But all this is not why Raven couldn't look away.  
  
She stared because their faces, so different, yet so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful - maybe the perfect red haired girl, or the dirty blonde-haired boy. No it was definitely the black haired one. Something about him was better than the others.

They were all looking away - away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as Raven could tell. As she watched, the girl rose with her tray -unopened soda, unbittenapple - and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. Raven watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than Raven would have thought possible. Her eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.  
  
"Who are they?" Raven asked the girl from her Latin class, whose name she'd forgotten.  
  
As she looked up to see who Raven meant - though already knowing, probably, from her tone - suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at Raven's neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to Raven's.  
  
He looked away quickly, more quickly than she could, though in a flush of embarrassment Raven dropped her eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest - it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in an involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.  
  
Raven's neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like she did.  
  
"That's Castiel and Gabriel Novak, and Dean and Sam Winchester The one who left was Anna Shirley; they all live together with Dr. Shirley and his wife." She said this under her breath.

Raven glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, nimble fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet Raven felt he was speaking quietly to them.  
  
Strange, unpopular names, Raven thought to herself. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here - small town names? Raven remembered that her neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in Raven's History class back home.  
  
"They are... very nice-looking." Raven struggled with the conspicuous understatement.  
  
"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though - Dean and Anna and Gabriel and Sam I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, Raven thought critically. But, if she was being honest, she had to admit that even in Scranton, it would cause gossip.  
  
"Which ones are the brothers?" Raven asked. "They don't look related..."  
  
"Oh, they're not. Dr. Shirley is really young, in his early thirties. They're all adopted. The Winchesters are brothers fraternal twins - the taller ones - and the other two boys are brothers but the short one is older. Anna was Dr Shirley's from a previous relationship. Apparently he had her at 19"  
  
"They look a little old for foster children."  
  
"They are now, Sam and Dean are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Shirley since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."  
  
"That's really kind of nice - for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."  
  
"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and Raven got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, Raven presumes the reason was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.  
  
Throughout all this conversation, Raven's eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.  
  
"Have they always lived in Pontiac?" Raven asked. Surely she would have noticed them on one of her summers here.  
  
"No," Jessica said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like Raven. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."  
  
Raven felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that she wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.  
  
As she examined them, the youngest, one of the Shirley's, looked up and met her gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As she looked swiftly away, it seemed to her that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.  
  
"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" Raven asked. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye, and he was still staring at her, but not gawking like the other students had today - he had a slightly frustrated expression. Raven looked down again.  
  
"That's Castiel Novak. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." Jessica sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. Raven wondered when he'd turned her down.  
  
Biting her lip to hide her smile, Raven glanced at him again and noticed his face was turned away, but it looked like his cheek was lifted, as if he were smiling, too.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful - even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Castiel didn't look at Raven again.  
  
Raven sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than she would have if she'd been sitting alone. She was anxious not to be late for class on her first day. One of her new acquaintances, who considerately reminded Raven that her name was Charlie, had Biology II with her the next hour. They walked to class together with Charlie talking about a land she made up called Moondoor. She invited Raven to LARP with her next weekend, Raven agreed but said she would need a crash course in it. Charlie clapped before turning towards a door.  
  
When they entered the classroom, Charlie went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones Raven was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, Raven recognized Castiel Novak by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.  
  
As she walked down the aisle to introduce herself to the teacher and get her slip signed, Raven was watching him surreptitiously. Just as she passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at her again, meeting her eyes with the strangest expression on his face - it was hostile, furious. Raven looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. She stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch herself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.  
  
Raven had noticed that his eyes were blue- an electric glowing blue.  
  
Mrs. Mosely signed Raven's slip and handed her a book with no nonsense about introductions. Raven could tell they were going to get along. Of course, she had no choice but to send Raven to the one open seat in the middle of the room. Raven kept her eyes down as she went to sit by him, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given her.  
  
She didn't look up as she set her book on the table and took her seat, but she saw his posture change from the corner of her eye. He was leaning away from her, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, Raven sniffed her hair. It smelled like honey, the scent of her favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. Raven lets her hair fall over her right shoulder, making a dark curtain between them, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something Raven had already studied. She took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.  
  
Raven couldn't stop herself from peeking occasionally through the screen of her hair at the strange boy next to her. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from Raven as possible. She could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.  
  
The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because Raven was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? Raven questioned her judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as Raven thought.  
  
It couldn't have anything to do with her. He didn't know Raven from Eve.  
  
She peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at her again, his blue eyes full of revulsion. As she flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through Raven's mind.  
  
At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making her jump, and Castiel Novak was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose - he was much taller than Raven thought - his back to her, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.  
  
Raven sat frozen in her seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. Raven began gathering up her things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled her, for fear her eyes would tear up. For some reason, Raven's temper was hardwired to her tear ducts. She usually cried when she was angry, a humiliating tendency.  
  
"Aren't you Raven Defalco?" a male voice asked.  
  
Raven looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his black hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at her in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think she smelled bad.  
  
"Raven Fox" she corrected him, with a smile.  
  
"I'm Michael."  
  
"Hi, Michael."  
  
"Do you need any help finding your next class?"  
  
"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."  
  
"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.  
  
They walked to class together; he was a chatterer - he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for Raven. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how she felt about crowds. It turned out he was in her English class also. He was the nicest person Raven met today.

But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Castiel Novak with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."  
  
Raven cringed. So she wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Castiel Novak's usual behavior. Raven decided to play dumb.  
  
"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" She asked artlessly.  
  
"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."  
  
"I don't know," Raven responded. "I never spoke to him."  
  
"He's a weird guy." Michael lingered by her instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."  
  
Raven smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease her irritation.  
  
The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found Raven a uniform but didn't make her dress down for today's class. At home, only two years of P.E. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. This is probably the only truly horrible thing here that won't go away.  
  
Raven watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries she had sustained - and inflicted - playing volleyball, she felt faintly nauseated.  
  
The final bell rang at last. Raven walked slowly to the office to return the paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. Raven wrapped her arms around herself.  
  
When she walked into the warm office, she almost turned around and walked back out.  
  
Instead she froze, recognizing the black tousled hair. Castiel didn't appear to notice the sound of her entrance. Raven stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.  
  
He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. Raven quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time - any other time.  
  
Raven just couldn't believe that this was about her. It had to be something else, something that happened before she entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to her. Was she really so vile and disgusting, that it pushed him to want to avoid her . Raven thinks this is the fastest she's ever fucked up. And she isn't even sure what she did wrong.  
  
The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling Raven's hair around her face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Castiel's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at Raven - his face was absurdly handsome - with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, she felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on her arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled her more than the freezing wind. He turned back to the receptionist.  
  
"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at Raven, and disappeared out the door.  
  
Raven went meekly to the desk, her face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.  
  
"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.  
  
"Fine," Raven lied, her voice weak. She didn't look convinced.  
  
When she got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home Raven had in this God forsaken school. She sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon she was cold enough to need the heater, so she turned the key and the engine roared to life. Raven headed back to her house, fighting tears the whole way there.


	2. Chapter 2- Open Book

The next day was better... and worse.  
  
It was better because it while it wasn't raining yet, the clouds were dense and opaque. It was easier because Raven knew what to expect of her day. Michael came to sit by her in English, and walked her to her next class. Chess Club Garth glared at him all the while; that was amusing because it didn't fit his face or personality. People didn't look at her quite as much as they had yesterday though, so that was a plus. She sat with a big group at lunch that included Michael, Garth, Jessica, Charlie and several other people whose names and faces she sort of remembered. Raven started feeling like she was treading water, instead of drowning in it.  
  
Of course it had to get worse. Racen was tired; physically and mentally. She still couldn't sleep with her mind turning against her every chance it got. Which was basically whenever she couldnt distract herself. Then Mr. Adler called on her in Trig when she hadn't even raised her hand. So of course she had the wrong answer and everyone laughed. It was miserable because Raven had to play volleyball, and the one time she didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, she ended up hitting her teammate in the head with it. Then to top it all off Castiel wasn't in school today.... At all.

All morning Raven was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of her wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While Raven was lying sleepless in bed last night her mind supplied her with scenerios of what would be said. But Raven knew herself too well to think she would really have the guts to do it. Raven makes the Cowardly Lion look like the Terminator.  
  
But when she walked into the cafeteria with Jessica - trying to keep her eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely - Raven saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them.  
  
Michael intercepted Raven and steered her to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined them. But as Raven tried to listen to their easy chatter, she was terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. She hoped that he would simply ignore her when he came, and prove her suspicions false.  
  
He didn't come, and as time passed Raven grew more and more tense.  
  
As she walked to Biology she had more confidence. This was probably because by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Michael, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by her side to class. Holding her breath at the door, Raven sighed in both disappointment and relief when she saw Castiel wasn't there, either. Giving in to the weight she was feeling , Raven slumped a little and forced herself to her seat. Michael followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach. He lingered by Raven's desk until the bell rang. Then he smiled at her wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm.

It looked like Raven was going to have to do something about Michael and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. Raven had never been enormously tactful; not to mention she had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.  
  
One would think she would be relieved that she had the desk to herself, that Castiel was absent. But Raven couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that she was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that she could ever affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet she couldn't stop worrying that it was true.  
  
When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of her cheeks from the volleyball incident, Raven changed quickly back into her black skinny jeans and grey sweater. Rushing from the girls' locker room, thankful that she evaded michael for the moment. She walked swiftly out to the parking lot, which was crowded now with fleeing students. As she got in her truck she dug through her bag to make sure she had what was needed.  
  
Last night she had discovered that her father couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon. So Raven requested that she be allowed to cook so that they could have healthier food. He was willing enough to hand over the keys to the banquet hall. She also found out that he had no food in the house. So Raven had a shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labeled FOOD, MONEY, and she was on her way to the Thriftway.  
  
Gunning the deafening engine to life, and ignoring the heads that turned in her direction she backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As she waited, trying to pretend that the ear splitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, she saw the two Winchesters and Anna and Gabriel getting into their car. It was the shiny old school Impala. Of course. Raven hadn't noticed their clothes before - she'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that she looked it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as Raven could tell life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here. She wonders why no one likes them. She also wonders if Castiel was only rude because he thought Raven was going to be rude first. Shrugging the thought away for now, Raven pays attention to the other cars,

The Thriftway was just a few streets south, off the highway from the school. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. Raven did the shopping when she lived with her mother, so she fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store was big enough inside that she couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where she was.  
  
When she got home, Raven unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever she could find an open space, hoping her dad wouldn't mind. She wrapped the potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.  
  
When she was finished with that, she took her book bag upstairs, starting on her homework. Once she was finished, she changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled her damp hair up into a pony-tail, and checked her e-mail for the first time. She had three messages.

* * *

  
"Raven," her mom wrote...  
  
Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi. Mom.

* * *

  
Sighing Raven went to the next. It was sent eight hours after the first.

* * *

  
"Raven" she wrote...  
  
Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for? I really need to know if you know where my shirt is. Mom.

* * *

  
The last was from this morning.

* * *

  
Raven Marie Fox,   
  
If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling your father.

* * *

Checking the clock, Raven sees she still has an hour, but her mom was well known for jumping the gun.

* * *

  
Mom,  
  
Calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash. Raven.

* * *

  
Sending that, Raven begins again.

* * *

  
Mom,  
  
Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about. School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch.  
  
Your blouse is at the dry cleaners - you were supposed to pick it up Friday.  
  
Dad bought me a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for me.  
  
I miss you, too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five minutes. Relax, breathe. I love you. Raven.

* * *

  
  
Feeling better now that her mom messaged her even if it was just to find her shirt, Raven decided to read Wuthering Heights - the novel they were currently studying in English - yet again for the fun of it, and that's what she was doing when her dad came home. Crap. She'd lost track of the time, hurrying downstairs Raven takes the potatoes out and puts the steak in to broil.  
  
"Raven?" Her father called out when he heard her on the stairs.  
  
  
"Hey, Dad, welcome home."

Thanks." As he hangs up his gun, and takes off his boots, Raven moves around the kitchen trying to get everything ready, even though her dad never shot the gun on the job, he kept it ready just in case. He doesn't bother taking out the bullets like he used to, I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.  
  
"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. Raven's mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. Raven was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember that far back.  
  
"Steak and potatoes," she answered, and he looked relieved.  
  
He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while Raven worked. Both Raven and her dad were more comfortable that way. Raven made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table.  
  
Raven called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.  
  
"Smells good, Raven."  
  
"Thanks."

As they ate in silence, Raven noticed that it wasn't uncomfortable. They both thrived in silence. She guesses that's why they were so comfortable living together.  
  
"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.  
  
"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Michael, who's very friendly.Everybody seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.  
  
"That must be Michael Angelus. Nice kid - nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."  
  
"Do you know the Shirley family?" Raven asked hesitantly.  
  
"Dr. Shirley's family? Sure. Dr. Shirley is a great man."  
  
"They... the kids... are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."  
  
Her dad surprised her by looking angry.  
  
"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Shirley is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him - lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature - I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should - camping trips every other weekend... Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."  
  
It was the longest speech Raven ever heard her father make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying. Raven was relieved that her father liked them. And she hoped that he stood up for them in public too. They really shouldn't be ostricized just for being new here.  
  
"They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," she added, trying to be more complimentary.  
  
"You should see the doctor," her dad said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."  
  
As they lapsed back into silence they finished eating. Dad cleared the table while Raven started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after she finished washing the dishes she went upstairs to work on her math homework. Raven could feel a tradition in the making. Shockingly, that night she fell asleep dreaming of Castiel fighting the voices away and wrapping her in warm, comforting wings. He runs a hand through her hair , promising that everything will get better. The next morning, Raven wakes up feeling happier and more relaxed than she has in years.  
  
  
  
She gets ready and heads over to Charlie's house. Before she can even knock on the door, Charlie is opening the door and dragging her inside. Once she's done squealing, Charlie starts talking about her week, and how she's so happy to see Raven, and she wasn't sure if she was actually going to show up or not.

Raven smiles at that, " of course I came. You made it sound super exciting, I just need help knowing what to do." 

"Ok so basically I am the queen of Moondoor. Everyone else who plays can be anything they want. We have Fairy's, Orcs, Elves, Ghosts, Trolls, any supernatural creature you can think of." 

Raven smiles and thinks of what she would want to be. " What should I be?" 

"That's up to you my friend, I can't decide for you. Although the game isn't until next week, so I can give you until then to decide."

Agreeing to think about it, Raven and Charlie decide to spend the rest of their time playing video games. When it's finally time to go, Raven waves goodbye and heads out with a smile that for once didn't feel forced.

  
  
Raven's first weekend in Pontiac passed without incident. Her father, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. Raven cleaned the house, got ahead on her homework, and wrote drove to the library, but it was so poorly stocked that she didn't bother to get a card; she would have to make a date to visit Normal, or Bloomington soon and find a good bookstore. She wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got... and shuddered at the thought.  
  


She kept dreaming of Castiel having wings, and protecting her. Each scenerio was different. Sometimes Raven was an animal, sometimes she was human. But for some reason he was always there, watching.

  
As she got to school Monday morning people greeted her in the parking lot. She didn't know all their names, but waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Michael took his accustomed seat by her side. They had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights which was straightforward, very easy.  
  
All in all, she was feeling a lot more comfortable than she had thought she would feel by this point.  
  
When they walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. Raven could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at her cheeks and nose.  
  
"Wow," Michael said. "It's snowing."  
  
Raven looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.  
  
"Ew." Snow. There went her good day.  
  
He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"  
  
"No. That means it's too cold for rain. I prefer the fall, when it's not too hot, but not freezing cold either. Plenty of rain which helps the enviorment." 

Michael laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. Turning around to see who had thrown it,. Raven suspected Garth, who was walking away, his back toward us - in the wrong direction for his next class. Michael apparently had the same thought, because a minute later he bent over scraping together a pile of the white mush.  
  
"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Raven kept walking as she spoke "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."  
  
He just nodded, his eyes on Garth's retreating figure.  
  
Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. Keeping her mouth shut, Raven wished it would melt away. Sure, it was beautiful, until it turned to ice and slush, then all it did was hurt people. Mainly Raven who had the grace of a stampeding elephant on a good day, add something slippery and it's a catastrophe waiting to happen.   
  
Raven walked quickly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Latin. Other students were throwing mushy snow around at anyone within site, so Raven kept a binder in her hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. Jessica thought the whole thing was hilarious, but something in Raven's expression kept her from attacking Raven with snow herself.  
  
Michael caught up as they were walking through the doors, he was laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as they got in line to buy food. Feeling like someone was staring at her, Raven glances around before freezing in place. Castiel was here today, and seemed to be watching Raven like a hawk.  
  
Jessica pulled on her arm  
  
"Hello? Raven? What do you want?"  
  
Looking down, ears hot with embarassment, Raven had no idea why he made her so self-conscious.  
There was just something about him that seemed powerful, like he could take down anyone who challenged him.  
  
"What's with Raven?" Michael asked Jessica.  
  
"You could just ask me you know, instead of talking over me like I'm not here, or like I'm not good enough to tell you how I feel. Nothing, by the way is wring with me." Raven walked away saying she would just get a soda.   
  
"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.  
  
"Actually, I feel a little sick," She said eyes still on the floor, hoping that they would let it go.  
  
She waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, confused about where her sudden irritation came from.  
  
Sipping her soda slowly, stomach churning, Raven just gets angrier as michael asks two more times what was wrong. It wasn't the fact that he kept asking, like she was nothing but a liar or like he knew her body better than she did, it was the tone of he was using. Like if he wasn't careful she would fall apart like a damsal in distress. Raven held her tongue though, knowing if she lashed out again, it would just make it worse. 

  
Deciding she needed a distraction, Raven kept her head down and glanced up under her lashes to see if Castiel was glaring at her again. Or even just looking. Not only was he not looking, none of them were, which was a bit of a relief and disappointment. Now how would she distract herself from the annoying concern of her friends? Raven decides to study them, and see what they're like when they don't hide themselves.

They were laughing. Castiel, Gabriel, and Dean, and Sam all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Anna was leaning away as Dean shook his dripping hair toward her. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else - Raven was glad to see them letting loose a bit. They were always so reserved and subdued around the other students. Although if the way Jessica and Michael talked about them was any indication, they probably got bullied for being a foster family. That was the only reason Raven could think of that people would them badly. Even that was a shitty reason.  
  
Raven noticed that there was something different about them though. Mainly Castiel. As she examined him more closely, she noticed that his skin was less pale, - flushed from the snow fight maybe - but even the circles under his eyes were less noticeable. But still there was something else. As she thought of what it could be, she was thrown out of her thoughts yet again by a concerned friend. Except instead of Michael, it was Jessica. She probably wanted something to gossip about.  
  
"Raven, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, following Raven's gaze.  
  
At that precise moment as if hearing them, his eyes flashed over to meet Raven's. Dropping her head and letting her hair conceal her face, Raven tried not to blush at the fact that he caught her staring. , The instant their eyes met, Raven noticed that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly like he had the last time she'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way. Maybe he was just ill when they first met. The fact that he looked healthier now supported that idea, which was more than she could say for the idea that he just didn't like her.  
  
"Castiel Novak is staring at you," Jessica giggled in her ear.  
  
"He doesn't look angry, does he?" Raven couldn't help asking.  
  
"No," she said, sounding confused by Raven's question. "Should he be?"  
  
"I don't think he likes me," Raven confided, still feeling queasy and putting her head down on her arm.  
  
"The Shirley's don't like anybody... well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."  
  
"Stop looking at him," Raven hissed.  
  
She snickered, but looked away. Raising her head enough that she could make sure Jessica looked away, Raven contemplated using violence to make her. Thankfully though, she didn't need to be knocked out.  
  
Michael interrupted them then - he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted them to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. Raven though was planning to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.  
  
  
Raven didn't really want to walk to class with Michael like she usually did. It seemed like he was a popular target for the snowball snipers - but when everyone went to the door, they groaned in unison at the site of rain washing all traces of the snow away. Raven pulled her hood up, secretly pleased. At least now she would be free to go straight home after Gym.  
  
Michael kept complaining all the way to building four.  
  
Once inside the classroom, Raven noticed with sadness that her table was still empty. Miss. Mosely was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. Keeping her eyes away from the door, Raven doodled idly on the cover of her notebook.  
  
She could hear the chair next to her move, but still kept her eyes focused on the wings she was drawing.

  
"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.  
  
Looking up, stunned that he was speaking to her, Raven saw that he was sitting as far away from her as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet and disheveled - yet he looked like he'd just finished shooting a hair gel commercial. His face was friendly and open, with a slight smile on his lips. But his eyes were careful, as if he was afraid of something.   
  
"My name is Castiel Novak," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Raven Fox."

Raven's mind spun with confusion. Had she really just been paranoid? Could her mind have made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. Maybe he really had just been sick. Crap Raven still had to speak; he was waiting. But she couldn't think of anything conventional to say.  
  
"H-how do you know my name?" She stammered.  
  
He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.  
  
"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."  
  
She grimaced having known it had to be something like that.  
  
"No," she persisted stupidly. "I meant, how did you know my last name was Fox?"  
  
He seemed confused. "Do you prefer DeFalco?"  
  
"No, I have my mom's last name" Raven explained. "But I think everyone just assumed that I have my father's last name. That's what everyone here seems call me by anyway," she tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.  
  
"Oh." He let it drop. Raven looked away awkwardly.  
  
Thankfully, Miss. Mosley started class at that moment. Raven tried concentrating as the teacher explained the lab they would be doing today. Apparently the slides were out of order and working as lab partners, they had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. They weren't supposed to use books and in twenty minutes, she would be coming around to see who had it right.  
  
"Get started," she commanded.  
  
"Ladies first, partner?" Castiel asked. Looking up Raven sees him giving her a crooked smile so beautiful that c she could only stare at him like an idiot.  
  
"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if she was mentally competent.  
  
"No," Raven said, blushing. "I'll go ahead."   
  
She decided to show off a bit since she's done this before. She was hoping that maybe if she showed she was smart, he would want to be her friend. So she snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. studying the slide briefly she confidently says "Prophase."  
  
"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as Raven began to remove the slide. His hand caught hers as he asked. His fingers were burning, like he'd been holding them in a fire before class. But that wasn't why she jerked her hand away so quickly. When they touched, it stung as if an electric current had passed through them.  
  
"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. Raven watched as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than she had.  
  
"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on the worksheet. As he swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, he glanced at it cursorily.  
  
"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.  
  
Keeping her voice normal, but smirking Raven glances at him from under her eyelashes and says. "May I?"  
  
He smirked back looking like he wanted to laugh as he pushed the microscope to her.  
  
Looking through the eyepiece eagerly, Raven feels a playful, yet competitive need to outdue him. Dang it, he was right.  
  
"Slide three?" Raven holds out my hand without even glancing in his direction, afraid if she did, she wouldn't be able to look away. This felt like a dream, and Raven didn't want it to end.  
  
As he hands her the slide,he seemed to be extra careful avoiding touching her again.  
  
Taking a fleeting look to make sure he's ok, Raven figures he might be antsy about germs. Or maybe he didn't like touching people he didn't know. Raven can understand that, she couldn't even comfortably hug her parents without her skin crawling sometimes.  
  
"Interphase." She passed him the microscope before he could ask for it, trying to show without making it obvious that she wasn't judging him. He took a swift peek, and before writing it down. Eventhough Raven would have written it based off his word alone, his clear, elegant script intimidated her. Raven didn't want to spoil the work with her ugly scrawl.  
  
As they finished, Raven noticed that they had finish before anyone else. Looking around she saw Michael and his partner repeatedly comparing two slides, and another group had their book open under the table.  
  
Which left Raven with nothing to do other than look at him and get lost in her head again. Glancing up though, Raven gave a tiny squeak as she noticed him already staring at her. It was an inexplicable look of frustration. That's when it hit her.  
  
"Do you wear contacts?"   
  
A puzzled look crosses his face at the question. "No."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry" I mumbled. "I just thought that the last time I saw you, you're eyes had been an electric blue, but now they still seem really blue, but not the glowing electric look they had before."  
  
He shrugged, and looked away biting his lip.  
  
Raven was mostly sure she hadn't imagined that - the color was too striking against the background of his pale skin and his black hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocean blue, but darker like the ocean during a storm. but with a similar blue tone. She didn't understand why he was avoiding the question, but she understood some things were private, so she dropped it. He barely knew her, she shouldn't be prying about his life.   
  
Looking down she notices his hands clenched into hard fists again. She quietly apologizes and looks down to her desk, avoiding eye contact and listening to her inner monologue as it berates her.   
  
Miss. Mosely came to their table questioning why they weren't working. As she looked over their shoulders she noticed their completed lab, and then intently checked the answers.  
  
"So, Castiel, didn't you think miss. DeFalco should get a chance with the microscope?" Miss. Mosely asked.  
  
"Her last name is Fox," Castiel corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five."  
  
Miss. Mosely stared at Raven now her expression skeptical  
  
"Have you done this lab before?" She asked.  
  
Raven looked down as she smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."  
  
"Whitefish blastula?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Miss. Mosely nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Scranton?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well," she said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." She walks away mumbling about smartass students, and rich parents paying for good grades. Feeling a bit offended that the teacher didn't think she was smart enough to know this, Raven began doodling on her notebook again. This time she's shading the wings when Castiel distracts her.  
  
"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Castiel questioned. Raven felt like he was forcing himself to make small talk with her. As the paranoia swept over her again she tries to make it go away. Yet somehow he was acting like he overheard Raven's conversation with Jessica at lunch and was trying to reassure her that he did in fact like her.  
  
"Not really," Raven answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else. She was still trying to get rid of that paranoid feeling and couldn't concentrate.  
  
"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.  
  
"Or the slippery"  
  
"Pontiac must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.  
  
"Not really, I loved spending summers here it was leaving that always seemed to mess me up," As Raven says this, the dark feeling in her head decided it wasn't going to wait until she was alone this time. It decided to make her remember every horrible thing that ever happened after leaving Pontiac .   
  
He looked fascinated by what Raven said, for some unknown reason. His face was such a distraction that Raven attempted to stop looking, just so she could concentrate on her picture, and what she was saying.   
  
"Why did you come here, then?"  
  
No one had asked her that - not even her parents seemed to care enough to straight out demand an explanation of why she uprooted her life and came here. Not that she had much of a life, but they didn't know that.  
  
"It's... complicated."  
  
"I think I can keep up," he pressed.  
  
Pausing for a long moment, Raven made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark blue eyes confused her, and she truthfully answered without thinking.  
  
"My mother got remarried,"   
  
"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"  
  
"Last September." Raven's voice sounded sad, even to her. She could only imagine what he heard.  
  
"And you don't like him," Castiel guessed, his tone still kind.  
  
"No, Bryan is fine I guess. Too religious maybe, but nice enough. At least for my mom. After the first few meetings I avoided him. "  
  
"Why did you avoid him?"

Raven couldn't understand his interest, but he continued to stare at her with his penetrating gaze, as if her sad excuse of a life's story was somehow vitally important.  
  
" Bryan travels alot. Goes to conventions and talks on stage"  
  
"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.  
  
"Probably not. He only talks at religious conventions. Strictly biblical. He travels alot.  
  
"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He assumed  
  
Raising her face a fraction Raven says. "No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."  
  
His eyebrows knit together at that. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.  
  
Sighing Raven questioned Why she was explaining this to him. He just continued to stare at her unable to hide his curiosity.  
  
"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy, and he would come back and see her that way and blame me... After a while I decided enough was enough, so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with my father." Raven's voice was glum by the time I finished.  
  
"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.  
  
"And? Trust me when I say it was I was worse off there. I explained  
  
"That doesn't seem fair." Was he ever physical with you? He sounded nonchalant, but his eyes were still intense. Raven was just glad they were soeaking quietly enough that no one could hear them.

  
Laughing without humor Raven said. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."  
  
"I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly. "Though you do seem to be avoiding some questions, I do understand this isn't the time or place to ask them. Maybe if you get to know me better, you'll confide in me. Bottling it up isn't healthy."

"There's not much else to tell, the rest would just be boring." As she told him this, she hoped he would believe her, she didn't want anyone here knowing about her past more than they already did.   
  
His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."  
  
Raven grimaced at that, wondering how he could possibly know that. She looked away, trying to subtly hide herself.

Was I wrong?"  
  
Raven tried to ignore him. Not wanting to know just how right he was.  
  
"I didn't think so," he murmured almost sadly.  
  
"Why does it matter to you?" She asked, irritated, keeping her eyes away, watching the teacher make her rounds.  
  
"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that Raven wondered if he could possibly talking to himself. However, after a few seconds of silence, she decided that was likely the only answer she would get.  
  
She sighed, scowling at the blackboard.  
  
"Am I annoying you?" he asked with amusement.  
  
Raven glanced at him without thinking... and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read - my mother always called me her open book. " She frowned.  
  
"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that she had said and he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.  
  
"You must be a mind reader then," Raven replied.

He gave her a smile so wide she could see his gums along with his perfect teeth. It was actually really endearing, if he kept this up Raven would end up making a fool of herself in front of the entire class.   
  
Miss. Mosely called the class to order then, and Raven turned in relief to listen. She couldn't believe that she just explained her dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise her. He'd seemed engrossed in their conversation, but now Raven could see, from the corner of her eye, that he was leaning away from her again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.  
  
Raven tried being attentive as Miss. Mosely, displaed on the overhead projector, what they had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But her thoughts were unmanageable.  
  
When the bell finally rang, Castiel rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, Raven stared after him in amazement.  
  
Michael skipped quickly to het side picking up her books. Raven couldn't help but imagine him with a wagging tail.  
  
"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Novak for a partner."  
  
"I didn't have any trouble with it," Raven said, pissed and hurt by his assumption. Since he obviously didn't care if he hurt her feelings, she didn't bother telling him she did it before. Maybe next time he'll think before he speaks.  
  
"Novak seemed friendly enough today," he changed the subject as they shrugged into their raincoats He seemed pretty pissed about it. Actually, he sounded outright jealous.  
  
Attempting to sound indifferent, Raven says "I wonder what was with him last Monday."  
  
Unable to concentrate on Mi'chael's chatter as they walked to Gym, Michael was on Raven's team today. He chivalrously covered her position as well as his own, so Raven's wool gathering was only interrupted when it was time for her to serve; the team ducked warily out of the way every time she was up.  
  
The rain was just a mist as Raven walked to the parking lot, but she was happier in the rain than in the snow. As she got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine, she unzipped her jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed her damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.  
  
Raven looked around herself to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Castiel Novak was leaning against the front door of the Lincoln Continental, which was 4 cars down from her, and staring intently in her direction. Looking away and throwing the truck into reverse, then stomping on the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that her truck would make scrap metal of. Raven took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of her car, and pulled out again, with greater success. She stared straight ahead as she passed the Continental, but from a peripheral peek, she would swear she saw him laughing.


	3. Phenomenon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible Trigger warnings, 
> 
> Near death experience 
> 
> Dreams of Attempting Suicide
> 
> Character tells another one to just let them die so they could be happy. (Not sure if that falls under suicidal ideation or not).

Opening her eyes the next morning, the first thing Raven noticed was that something was different. The second thing she noticed, was that she had a weird feeling throughout her body.  
  
Looking outside, she noticed that there was still light pouring in, instead of the constant cloudiness of a rainy day. That was the first difference she had felt. Sure, there was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. That's when she realized there was no fog veiling the window.

  
Still unsure of what was wrong with her body, Raven assumed it was the growing horror she felt in her stomach intensifying.

There, covering the front yard, and sitting on top of her truck, was a dusting of snow. That however, wasnt the worst part. The worst part was the fact that all the rain from yesterday that Raven had thanked whatever higher power there was out there for, had frozen solid. It was now coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and it was making the driveway a deadly ice slick. Raven had enough trouble keeping her balance when the ground actually had traction on it. Now though, with what was basically zero traction between Raven and everything around her, it would probably be safer for her to go back to bed.

Raven's dad had left for work before she even got downstairs. It reminded Raven that in a lot of ways, she was basically living alone with how much he was never home. While anyone else would probably be reveling in the solidarity, Raven felt more alone than ever, her and Castiel's conversation running through her head.  
  
Throwing down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice Raven felt excited to go to school, which was unusual. She knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment was anticipated, or seeing her new friends. If she was honest with herself, she knew it was an eagerness to see Castiel. 

Raven should be embarrassed about spilling her life story to him yesterday, but for some reason she wasn't .Maybe it was the fact he seemed genuinely interested. No one had ever actually listened like that before. Raven was still nervous of the hostility he had displayed the first time they spoke to each other. But that was more over the fact that she felt this desperate desire for him to like her. It didn't even need to be romantic, she just wanted him to be happy. Even though she knew their leagues were spheres that did not touch she wished he wouldn't care.  
  
It took every ounce of concentration to sucessfully make it down the icy deathtrap that was her driveway alive. Only to nearly break her neck on a patch of ice directly in front of her truck door. she luckily managed to cling to the side mirror and save herself. Apparently, today was going to be just as nightmarish as she feared.  
  
Driving to school, Raven's mind distracted her with images of falling and all the students laughing at her as she struggled to gain her footing enough to stand. Which she tried to distract herself from by thinking about Michael and Garth, and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to her here. She was pretty sure nothing had changed about her apoearance since leaving Scranton. 

Maybe it was just that the boys back home had known that Raven was weird and never smiled, while here she was ready better at putting up a front.

Or perhaps it was the fact that she was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Maybe here they viewed crippling clumsiness as endearing rather than pathetic. She knew Michael enjoyed casting her as a damsel in distress maybe the other boys did too. Whatever the reason, Michael's puppy dog behavior and Garth's apparent rivalry with him were off-putting. Between this and being invisible, Raven would prefer being ignored.  
  
Thankfully, while she was lost in thought, her truck and muscle memory seemed to have no problem navigating the black ice covered roads.   
  
Getting out of the truck at school, Raven noticed something silver near the back of the truck - carefully holding the side for support - she examines her tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Her father had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on her truck. Raven's throat suddenly felt tight, she wasn't used to being taken care of, and her dad''s unspoken concern caught her by surprise.  
  
As she was standing by the back corner of the truck, losing the struggle to fight back the suprising yet not unwanted emotion the snow chains had brought on, Raven heard an odd sound.  
  
A high-pitched screech was becoming painfully loud. Looking up, startled, Raven saw several things at once. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, although she knew that was unlikely. Instead of being able to move away though, the adrenaline rush seemed to be forcing her body to freeze so that her brain could absorb in clear detail everything that was happening at once.  
  
Castiel was standing four cars down from her, staring in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But the most noticable face was that of the driver dark blue van currently skidding towards her, its tires were locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot.It was going to hit the back corner of Raven's truck, which would probably end up killing her since she was between them. Raven didn't even have time to close her eyes.

  
Right as she heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something pushed her hard, except it wasn't from the direction she had been expecting it from. As her head went to crack against the icy blacktop, she felt something solid and warm pinning her to the ground, a.d a pair of arms protecting her head from the brunt of the impact. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was lying on the pavement behind the tan car she'd parked next to. However she didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming. It had curled gratingly around the end of the truck and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with her again.  
  
A low oath in a familiar sounding but unknown language made her aware that someone was still hovering over her, and the voice was impossible not to recognize. Two long, beautiful irridescent blue wings that faded into black shot out of nowhere, protectively blocking them from the van and making it shudder to a stop a foot from Raven's face, the large arms and hands tightening protectively around Raven's body.  
  
Then his wings moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping Raven under her body, and dragging her, swinging her legs around like a rag doll's, until they hit the tire of the tan car, befire disaooearing. A groaning metallic thud hurt her ears, and the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt - exactly where, a second ago, Raven's legs had been.  
  
It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt bedlam, Raven could hear more than one person shouting her name. But more clearly than all the yelling, she could hear Castiel's low gravelly, voice frantically speaking in her ear.  
  
"Raven? Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine." Raven's voice sounded strange even to herself. She wondered if Castiel noticed. Attempting to sit up, Raven realized Castiel was now holding her against the side of his body in an iron grasp. It was comforting, how concerned he was. Yeah everyone was concerned, but he was the only one who cared enough to try and help her.  
  
"Be careful," he warned as she struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."  
  
Raven became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear. Even with him shielding her head, she hit it pretty hard.  
  
"Ow," Raven said in surprise.  
  
"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.  
  
"How in the..." Raven trailed off, still trying to clear the fog from her head "How did you get over here so fast?"  
  
"I was standing right next to you, Raven," he said this in a serious tone but couldn't seem to look her in the eye completely. Although he did a good job of looking close enough that if she hadn't been looking she would have thought he was.  
  
As she turned to sit up, Castiel helping her up this time, before reluctantly releasing his hold around her waist and sliding as far from her as he could in the limited space. Disappointed that he moved away again Raven looked at his concerned, innocent expression and felt disoriented again by the force of his stormy blue eyes. What had she asking him again?  
  
That was how the crowd found them, they all had tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at them.  
  
"Don't move," someone instructed.

Get Crowley out of the van!" someone else shouted.  
  
There was a flurry of activity around them. As Raven tried getting up again, Castiel's warm hand pushed her shoulder down.  
  
"Just stay put for now."  
  
"But it's cold." Raven was surprised when he chuckled under his breath and placed his trenchcoat over her shoulders. There was an edge to his chuckle, especially as Raven looked at him and told him she didn't want him to get cold.

"I won't, you need it more than I do, I think you're in shock right now."   
  
That's when it hits her, "You were over there," She said pointing to his car.  
  
His expression turned guarded. "No, I wasn't."  
  
"I saw you." Raven said around the chaos . She could hear the adults arriving on the scene, but she was too busy holding on to their argument to pay attention to them. She knew she was right, and she didn't understand why he wouldn't admit it.  
  
"Raven, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on her, as if trying to communicate something crucial.  
  
She suddenly understood, however he got close to her so fast, he didn't want anyone overhearing. People already treated his family like outcasts, if there was something different about them, the town would go nuts.  
  
The electricity in his eyes blazed. "Please, Raven"  
  
"Can't you just be truthful enough to say that you can't talk about it right now" Raven demanded.  
  
"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming.  
  
Raven sighed, noting that she could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"  
  
"Fine," he snapped, abruptly exasperated.  
  
"Fine," Raven repeated angrily.  
  
It took six EMTs and two teachers - Mr. Adler and Coach Clapp - to shift the van far enough away from them to bring the stretchers in. Castiel vehemently refused his, and Raven tried to do the same, but the traitor told them she had hit her head and probably had a concussion. Raven felt like she could have died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace. It looked like the entire school was there, watching as they loaded her in the back of the ambulance. Castiel got to ride in the front. It was completely unfair.  
  
To make matters worse, Chief DeFalco arrived before they could get her safely away.  
  
"Raven!" he yelled in panic when he recognized her on the stretcher.  
  
"I'm completely fine, Dad," she sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."  
  
He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. Raven tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in her head. When they'd lifted her away from the car, she had noticed the deep dent in the tan car's bumper - a very distinct dent that fit the contours of Castiel's shoulders... as if he had braced himself against the car with enough force to damage the metal frame...  
  
And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety.  
  
Raven tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what had just happened - a solution that excluded the assumption that she was finally going insane.  
  
Of course, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. Raven felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading her. It was made worse when Castiel simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. Raven didn't understand why she hadn't been aloud to do that too.   
  
After putting her in the emergency room, a nurse put a pressure cuff on Raven's arm and a thermometer under her tongue. Raven decided that if they weren't going to give her some privacy like she wanted, she wasn't going to wear the stupid useless neck brace when she didn't need it. As soon as the nurse walked away, she quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed.  
  
Another flurry of hospital personnel, brought who she now recognized as Fergus Crowley from her Government class in and set him on the other bed. Crowley looked a hundred times worse than Raven felt. But he was staring anxiously at her as if she was dying.  
  
"Raven, I'm so sorry!"  
  
"I'm fine, Crowley - you look awful, are you all right?" As they spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.  
  
He either ignored her or was in shock and didn't even hear her as he said "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong..." He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face.  
  
"Don't worry about it; you missed me."  
  
"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone..."  
  
"Umm... Castiel pulled me out of the way."  
  
He looked confused. "Who?"  
  
"Castiel Novak - he was standing next to me." Raven had never liked to lie, and she was sure it must have shown on her face, apparently though everyone thought it was from the accident because no one called her on it.  
  
"Novak? I didn't see him... wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"  
  
"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."  
  
Raven knew she hadn't been imagining things. What had happened? There was no way to explain what she had seen.  
  
As they wheeled her away, for an X-ray of her head Raven told them there was nothing wrong. Turns out she was right. Not even a concussion. She asked if that meant she could leave, but the nurse said she had to talk to a doctor first. So Raven ended up being trapped in the ER, waiting, and annoyed by Crowley's constant apologies and promises to make it up to her. Everytime Raven tried to convince him she was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, Raven closed her eyes and ignored him as kept up his remorseful mumbling. This whole day was a perfect example of why she hated snow.  
  
"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. Her eyes flew open.  
  
Castiel was standing at the foot of her bed, smirking. Raven attempted to glare at him. But it was like trying to glare at a supermodel- it would have been more natural to ogle.  
  
"Hey, Castiel, I'm really sorry -" Crowley began.  
  
Castiel lifted a hand stopping him before he could start his string of apologies.  
  
"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Crowley's bed, facing Raven. He smirked again.  
  
"So, what's the verdict?" he asked.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," Raven complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"  
  
"It's all about who you know," he answered. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."

A doctor who- if Raven were to go by her father's description-, could only be Castiel's father, 

  
"So, Miss Fox," Dr. Shirley said in a remarkably soothing voice, "how are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm fine," Raven said, for what was hopefully the last time.  
  
He walked to the lightboard on the wall over her head, and turned it on.  
  
"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Castiel said you hit it pretty hard."  
  
"It's fine," Raven sighs, aiming a scowl toward Castiel, suspecting he had said she hit her head just so they would keep her so busy doing tests that she wouldn't be able to interrogate him.  
  
As the doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along her skull, Raven winced.  
  
"Tender?" he asked.  
  
"Not really, I've had worse."

Seeing Castiel tilt his head and frown at that, Raven suspected he knew what she meant. She narrowed her eyes, silently asking him not to say anything.  
  
"Well, your father is in the waiting room - you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."  
  
"Can't I go back to school?" Raven asked, imagining her father trying to be attentive.  
  
"Maybe you should take it easy today."  
  
Glancing at Castiel Raven gets annoyed again before asking "Does he get to go to school?"  
  
"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Castiel said smugly.  
  
"Actually," Dr. Shirley corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."  
  
"Oh no," Raven moaned, covering her face.  
  
Dr. Shirley raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"  
  
"No, no!" Raven throws her legs over the side of the bed and hopped down quickly. Probably too quickly, since she ended up staggering. Dr. Shirley caught her with a concerned look.  
  
"I'm fine," Raven assured him again. No need to tell him her balance problems had nothing to do with hitting her head.  
  
"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he steadied her.  
  
"It doesn't hurt that bad," she stubbornly insisted.  
  
"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Shirley said, smiling as he signed her chart with a flourish.  
  
"Lucky Castiel happened to be standing next to me," She amended with a hard glance at the subject of her statement.  
  
"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Shirley agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him. Then he looked away, at Tyler, and walked to the next bed. Raven's intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it. Was the whole family like that? Is this why Castiel doesn't want to talk about it? Maybe they're in danger, and can't talk about it.  
  
"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.  
  
As soon as the doctor's back was turned, Raven moved to Castiel's side.  
  
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She hissed under her breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched.  
  
"Your father is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.  
  
  
"I'd really like to speak with you alone please , if you don't mind," she pleads.  
  
He glared, before turning his back and striding down the long hallway. Raven ends up having to nearly run in order to keep up. As soon as they turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to glare at her.   
  
"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold.  
  
His anger intimidated Raven. Her words came out less severe and more pleading than she had intended. "You owe me an explanation," she reminded him.  
  
"I saved your life - I don't owe you anything."  
  
Raven flinched back from the resentment in his voice. "I didnt mean you owe me, its just you promised."  
  
"Raven, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." He told her scathingly.  
  
Just like that, Raven's temper flared to life at being told she didn't know what she was saying. As she glared defiantly at him she said, "There's nothing wrong with my head."  
  
He glared back. "What do you want from me, Raven?"  
  
"I want to know the truth," she said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you."  
  
"What do you think happened?" he snapped.  
  
It came out in a rush.  
  
"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me - Crowley didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both - and it didn't, and you had wings that left dents in the side of it - and you left a dent in the other car, you're not even hurt at all - and the van should have smashed my legs, but you're one wing was holding it up as the other helped you move my body out of the way..." She could hear how crazy she sounded, and couldn't continue. She was so angry she could feel the tears coming; As she tried to force them back by grinding her teeth together, he just stared at her.  
  
His face was tense and defensive.  
  
"You think I somehow have wings and they lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned Raven's sanity, but it only made her more suspicious. It was too perfect. Like a line being delivered by a skilled actor.  
  
Raven merely nodded once, jaw tight.  
  
"Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now.  
  
"I never planned on telling anyone, and i'm still not going to tell anybody." Raven said each word slowly, carefully controlling her anger and pain. She couldn't believe that he thought she would out him like that. Yeah he barely knew her but she felt like she had known him for years. She had thought with the way he'd been trying to get to know her that he felt the same. Apparently not though.  
  
Surprise flitted across his face. "Then why does it matter?"  
  
"It matters to me," she insisted. "I don't like to lie - or being lied to, so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."  
  
"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"  
  
"Thank you." Raven waited, fuming and expectant.  
  
"You're not going to let it go, are you?"  
  
"Not unless you say you don't feel comfortable sharing whatever this family secret is because I'm basically a stranger. That I would understand , that at least would be the truth ."  
  
"In that case... I hope you enjoy disappointment."  
  
They scowled at each other in silence. Raven was the first to speak, trying to keep herself focused. She was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.  
  
"Why did you even bother saving me?" She as sadly.  
  
He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.  
  
"I don't know," he whispered.

"You should have just let me die Cas, maybe then you'd be happy. I can see the way you glare at me, how you avoid me, I don't know what I did to you but I'm sorry. Next time just don't save me, at this point I'd rather die than be constantly reminded what a disgusting fuck up I am.'   
  
Raven turned her back to him and ran off before he could respond. Not seeing the devestated look in his eyes.

  
  
The waiting room was more unpleasant than she had feared. It seemed like every face she ever saw in Pontiac was there, staring at her. As her father rushed to her side, Raven put her hands up.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with me," She assured him sullenly. She was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.  
  
"What did the doctor say?"  
  
"Dr. Shirley saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." Raven sighed. Michael and Jessica Garth and Charlie were all there, beginning to converge on them. "Let's go," she urged.  
  
Her dad put an arm behind her back, not quite touching her. As he led her to the glass doors of the exit she waved sheepishly at her friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief- the first time she ever felt that way - to get into the cruiser.  
  
As they drove in silence, Raven was so distracted by her negative thoughts that barely knew her dad was there. She was positive that Castiel's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things she still couldn't believe she had witnessed.  
  
When they got to the house, her dad finally spoke.  
  
"Um... you'll need to call Clarissa." He hung his head, guilty.  
  
Raven was appalled. "You told Mom!"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Raven slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on her way out.  
  
Her mom was completely livid of course. Raven had to tell her she hadn't purposely tried to get hit at least thirty times before she would calm down. She spent the rest of the call asking Raven why she just couldn't be normal, and berating everything she ever did wrong. Before she hung up her mom gave Bryan the phone and he said if they ever got another call like the one her father gave them, Raven better actually be dead, or he would make her wish she was.

After hanging up, Raven decided she might as well go to bed early that night.

Her father continued to watch her anxiously, and it was getting on her nerves. Locking her door Raven eventually gave in to the depression she was feeling and cried herself to sleep.

  
That was the first night in a long time she dreamed of trying to kill herself. But even in the dream, Castiel stopped her, with an upset and frustrated face. Before he could say anything to her though, Raven transformed into a fox and ran away, leaving a confused Castiel behind.


	4. Invitations

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.  
  
To Raven's dismay, she was the center of attention for the rest of that week. Fergus Crowley was following her around obsessed with making amends. No matter how much Raven tried to convince him that the thing she wanted more than anything was for him to forget all about it - especially since she hadn't even been injured - but he remained insistent. He basically stalked her between classes and sat at the now-crowded lunch table. Michael and Garth were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other. Which while highly amusing at times also made her worry that she had gained another unwelcome fan.  
  
No one seemed concerned about Castiel, though Raven explained over and over that he had saved her life - how he had pulled her out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. Raven tried to be convincing, but all anyone ever said was that they hadn't even seen him there until the van was pulled away.  
  
Raven constantly wondered why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly growing wings and saving her life. With resentment, she realized the probable cause - no one else cared enough to be so aware of Castiel. No one else watched him the way she did. How depressing.  
  
Castiel never got surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager to gossip about his firsthand account. People avoided him as usual. The Novaks and the Winchesters sat with Anna at the same table as always, not eating, only talking quietly to themselves. None of them, especially Castiel, glanced Raven's way anymore.  
  
When he sat next to her in class, he chose to be as far from her as the table allowed, seemingly unaware of her presence. His only tell being every now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up - skin stretched even whiter over the bones - that let Raven know he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.  
  
The only plausible explanation was that he wished he hadn't pulled her from the path of Crowley's van - there was no other conclusion Raven could come up with.  
  
Eventhough she really wanted to talk to him, she hadn't tried since the day after the accident. The last time she'd seen him, outside the ER, 'they'd both been furious. She was still angry that he wouldn't at least admit he didn't know her enough to trust with the truth. Still though, she kept her part of the deal, not wanting to risk his, or his family's well being. But the fact was he had in fact, saved her life, no matter how he'd done iit.Realising that made the heat of her anger fade into awed gratitude overnight.  
  
He had already been seated when she got to Biology, missing his signature trenchcoat and looking straight ahead. Raven had sat down, expecting him to turn toward her. He didn't even show any sign that he realized she was there.  
  
"Hello, Castiel, I wanted to apologise and give this back to you" she had said pleasantly, holding his trenchcoat -which she had folded neatly-out to him to show that she was going to behave herself.  
  
He had only turned his head a fraction toward her and without meeting her gaze, nodded once, and then took the offered trenchcoat quickly looking the other way.  
  
And that was the last contact she had with him, even though he was there, a foot away from her, every single school day. Raven would watch him sometimes, unable to stop herself- always from a distance though, in the cafeteria or parking lot. She watched as his storm blue eyes grew perceptibly more electrified day by day. But in class she gave no more notice that he existed than he showed toward her. Raven was miserable. And still the dreams of him continued. Everytime Raven would transform and run the minute she noticed him. He always just stood there watching sadly as she ran.   
  
Despite her outright lies, Raven couldn't fool herself into believing she wasn't spiraling into a bad depression again. She could see the signs, and sometimes still dreamed of killing herself. Those were the dreams where Castiel wouldn't just watch as she ran. In those he ran after her, always grabbing her and hugging her tightly to his chest, stroking her hair, and whispering that he would always be there to keep her from going through with it. Always making her feel loved. Those dreams were a blessing and a curse. Yeah they kept her from going through with it, because if she did she couldn't dream them again. But then she had to go back to reality, where Castiel hated her guts, and wishes he'd let her die.  
  
Michael at least, was pleased by the obvious coolness between Raven and her lab partner. She could tell he'd been worried that Castiel's daring rescue might have impressed her, and he was relieved that it seemed to have the opposite effect. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of her table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Castiel as completely as he ignored them. It was really starting to piss Raven off. It was none of his business who she talked to, yet he seemed to have it in his head that she was going to belong to him one day. The braver he acted the more she felt like hitting him. Raven just couldn't understand what was with the guys around here.  
  
The snow had finally washed away for good much to Michael's disappointed at never getting to stage his snowball fight. He was pleased though that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued to fall heavily throughout the week.  
  
Jessica made Raven aware of another event looming on the horizon by calling on the first Tuesday of March to ask Raven's permission to invite Michael to the girls' choice spring dance in two weeks.  
  
"Are you sure you don't mind... you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted when Raven told her she didn't care in the least.  
  
"No, Jess, I'm not going," Raven assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside her range of abilities. Maybe this would be the push Michael needed to leave Raven alone with the dating crap. She didn't mind him as a friend, but she really wasn't interested in dating him. He just wasn't her type.  
  
"It will be really fun." Her attempt to convince Raven was halfhearted. Raven suspected that Jessica enjoyed her inexplicable popularity more than her actual company. Which yeah was kind of shallow, but it's not like Jess was her only friend. Raven much preferred Charlie, or for the day that he had been nice to her, Castiel. They were at least fun to be around.  
  
"You have fun with Michael" she encouraged.  
  
The next day, Raven was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Latin. She was silent as she walked by Raven's side between classes, and she was afraid to ask Jess why. If Michael had turned her down, Raven was the last person she would want to tell.  
  
Raven's fears were strengthened when at lunch Jessica sat as far from Michael as possible, chatting animatedly with Garth. Michael was unusually quiet.  
  
Michael was still quiet as he walked Raven to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn't broach the subject until she was in her seat and he was perched on the desk. As always, Raven was electrically aware of Castiel sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were merely an invention of her imagination.  
  
"So," Michael said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."  
  
"That's great." Raven made her voice sound happy and overexcited. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."  
  
"Well..." He floundered as he examined her smile, clearly unhappy that I wasn't jealous. "I told her I had to think about it."  
  
"Why would you do that?" Raven demanded disapproval discoloring her tone. Raven was secretly relieved he hadn't given her an absolute no.  
  
His face went bright red as he looked down again. Raven couldn't even force herself to pity him. The way he just assumed Raven would be extatic that he asked her was plain out demeaning. Especially since she never even accepted his advances.  
  
"I was wondering if... well, if you might be planning to ask me."

Raven pauses a moment using all her strength to refrain from rolling her eyes. As she did she noticed, from the corner of her eye, how Castiel's head tilted reflexively in her direction  
  
"Michael, I think you should tell her yes," Raven said as politely as she could.   
  
"Did you already ask someone?" Did Castiel notice how Michael's hate filled eyes flickered in his direction?  
  
"No," Raven told him as civilly as she could. " I'm not going to the dance at all."  
  
"Why not?" Mike demanded.

Raven had enough of his attitude do finally she let him see her roll her eyes before she replied with as much snark as possible.  
  
"Not that I have to explain myself to you, because as far as I can tell, you're not my father. What you also seem to forget is that I don't belong to you, so you really shouldn't be acting so possessive, but since I know you won't let it go without an answer you accept, I'm going to Normal that Saturday," Raven explained. She needed to get out of town anyway - it was suddenly the perfect time to go.  
  
"Can't you go some other weekend?"  
  
"Nope, I have plans that I really shouldn't have to cancel just because a boy who's supposed to be my friend, refuses to take no for an answer" Raven glared as she said that. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer - it's rude."  
  
"Yeah, you're right," he finally mumbled, before he turned, dejectedly, to walk back to his seat. Raven closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to my temples, silently thanking whatever higher power had made him finally give up. Because Raven could tell he probably wouldn't have given up until she either embarrassed him publicly or hit him, and with how frustrated she was she probably would have done both. Miss. Mosely began talking, so Raven sighed and opened her eyes.  
  
Only to see Castiel staring at her curiously and instead of the now familiar edge of frustration he had a small confused smile on his face and his eyes looked more normal than they had in a while.   
  
At first Raven only stared back out of surprise, and had been expecting him to quickly look away. But instead he continued to gaze, now with a probing intensity into her eyes. There was no question of Raven looking away any time soon. Just as her hands started to shake, they both heard the teacher saying  
  
"Mr. Novak?" Apparently seeking the answer to a question that Raven hadn't even heard.  
  
"The Krebs Cycle," Castiel answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Miss. Mosely.  
  
Raven looked down at her book as soon as his eyes released her, once again thanking whatever higher power kept the teacher from calling on her. She then told it that whatever it was, she now considered it her guardian angel. She smirks at the thought before noticing Castiel chuckling at something. She then started trying to find her place, once again being as cowardly as ever. She shifted her hair over her right shoulder to hide her face. She couldn't believe the lack of control she had over the rush of emotion pulsing through her - all because he'd happened to look at her for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. She couldn't allow herself to keep being this pathetic.   
  
Raven tried her best not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, but, since that was impossible, she attempted to avoid letting him know that she was aware of him. When the bell finally rang Raven turned her back to him trying to gather her things, and expecting him to leave immediately as usual.  
  
"Raven?" Dammit his voice shouldn't be so familiar to her, as if she had known the sound of it all her life rather than just a few weeks.  
  
Turning slowly, almost unwillingly Raven tried not to feel what she knew she always ended up feeling when she stared at his too-perfect face. She could tell her expression was wary when she finally did turn to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything.  
  
"What? Are you speaking to me again?" Raven finally asked, an unintentional note of childishness in her voice.  
  
His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.  
  
Raven closed her eyes in despair as she inhaled slowly through her nose. As she did, she could smell cinnamon, orange zest, and what could only be described as fresh ozone wafting off of Castiel. She froze and seemed to stare at him in shock. Since when was her nose this sensative? He waited as she tried to refocus.  
  
"Then what do you want, Castiel?" She asked, keeping her eyes closed and hand near her face blocking most of the scent; it was easier to talk to him coherently that way.   
  
"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."  
  
Raven opened her eyes. His face was very serious.  
  
"I don't know what you mean," she replied, voice guarded.  
  
"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me."  
  
Narrowing her eyes, she feels like crying. She had heard that before. Everyone always says that eventually.  
  
"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," she hissed through clenched teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."  
  
"Regret?" The word, and her tone obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"  
  
"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."  
  
He seemed to be astonished as he stared at her in disbelief.  
  
When he finally spoke, he almost sounded angry. "You think I regret saving your life?"  
  
"I know you do," Raven finally admitted.  
  
"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.  
  
Turning her head away from him, . She managed to gather her books together, as she stood and walked to the door. Somehow the toe of her boot ends up getting caught on the door jamb and she dropped her books. As she stood there she debated abandoning them. But sighing, she realized she couldn't and bent to pick them up. Of course he was already there; he'd stacked them into a pile and handed them to her, his face hard with anger.  
  
"Thank you," Raven said icily, as she wonders if it's possible for someone to smell angry. Somehow Castiel managed to, the ozone scent smelling more like lightning.   
  
His eyes narrowed.  
  
"You're welcome," he retorted.  
  
Straightening up swiftly, Raven turned away from him and stalked off to Gym without looking back.  
  
Gym was brutal. They'd moved on to basketball. Raven's team never bothered to pass her the ball, which was good, but she ended up falling, a lot. Sometimes taking people with her. Today was worse than usual because her head kept her distracted by obsessing over Castiel's smell, and how she wanted to be surrounded by it. Then ruining that by reminding her he wants nothing to do with her, and regrets saving her. It shows her images of him taunting her for the crush she has on him, and asking how she thought he could ever love a freak like her. She tried to concentrate on her feet, but he kept creeping back into her thoughts just when she needed her balance the most.  
  
It was a relief, as always, to leave. Raven basically ran to the truck; there were just so many people she wanted to avoid. As she ran, she thought about how she should go to the woods soon and start running again. At least it kept the depressing thoughts away. She gets to her truck glad that it had suffered minimal damage in the accident. She had to replace the taillights, and would have touched up the paint job if it hadn't already been messy when her dad got it.   
  
Raven almost had a stroke when she noticed the tall, dark figure leaning against the side of her truck. She was relieved to see it was just Garth.   
  
"Hey, Garth," she called.  
  
"Hi, Raven."  
  
"What's up?" Raven asked as she unlocked the door. She hadn't been paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words surprised her.  
  
"Uh, I was just wondering... if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.  
  
"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to respond better.  
  
"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.  
  
Raven recovered enough composure to smile warmly. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Normal that day."  
  
"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."  
  
"Maybe" she agreed before smiling and whispering conspiratingly, "but you know what I heard?" 

"What?" He questioned shyly.

"You know Bess?" 

"The girl who runs the drama club?"

"Yup that's the one, I heard that she's been wanting to ask you for a while now but has been too nervous that you might not like her." 

"Really? She's interested in me? " Garth lights up at the thought.

"Yup, even asked me if I thought you'd say yes. I said I bet you'd be thrilled to be with someone like her. I'm pretty sure that's her about 6 cars down to the left if you want to ask her. Maybe say you wanted to know if she asked anyone yet because you'd be honnored if sh woukw ask you" Raven winked as she said the last part.

"Thank you'' Garth yelled as he ran off

Raven was happy to help him, he wasn't a bad guy, just needed some guidance every now and then. 

  
Castiel was walking past the front of Raven's truck, looking straight forward, with his lips pressed together. As Raven yanked the door open and jumped inside, she slammed it loudly behind her. She revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Castiel was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of her, cutting her off before she could rush off. He stopped there - seeming to be waiting for his family to get the Impala; Raven could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. She considered taking out the rear of his shiny gold Lincoln Continental, but there were too many witnesses. As she checked her rearview mirror a line was beginning to form. Directly behind her, Fergus Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. Raven was too aggravated to acknowledge him.  
  
While she was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of her, she was startled by a knock on her passenger side window. Looking over she noticed it was Crowley. She glanced back in the rearview mirror, confused about why he left his car running with the door wide open. Leaning across the cab she cranks the window down. It was stiff so she only got it halfway down, before giving up.  
  
"I'm sorry, Crowley I'm stuck behind Novak"   
  
"Oh, I know - I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.  
  
This could not be happening. She prayed to her guardian angel demanding to know why it would let this happen. She couldn't understand what she did to deserve this mess.  
  
"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.  
  
"I'm not going to be in town, Crowley" Raven said a little sharply. She tried reminding herself that it wasn't his fault that Michael and Garth had already used up her patience for the day. Actually it was mainly Michael, Garth at least was sweet and accepting of her answer. He even seemed happier to go with Bess.  
  
"Yeah, Michael said that," he admitted.  
  
"Then why -"  
  
He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."  
  
Okay, it was completely Crowley's fault.  
  
"No,Tyler," Raven said attempting not to break her composure. The only reason she succeeded was because she was sending images of her throttling Crowley using Michael as a weapon. Then tying them both up into a knot and shoving them in a gym locker to a fake guardian angel that she made up. hide my irritation.

"I really am going out of town." She continued   
  
"That's cool. We still have prom."  
  
And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car completely unaware of how much Raven wants to shove Michaels head up his smarmy fake British accent having ass.

She could feel the shock on her face as she looked ahead to see Gabriel get in Castiel's car as Anna, Dean and Sam all sliding into the Impala. In his rearview mirror of the Continental, Castiel's eyes were on Raven. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Crowley had said. Raven's foot itched toward the gas pedal... one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just that glossy gold paint job. She revved the engine.  
  
But alas they were all leaving, and Castiel was speeding away behind Dean. Raven drove home carefully, muttering to herself the whole way.  
  
When she got home, she made chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, but at least it kept her busy. While she was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. Raven almost didn't answer it, fearing another dance request. But it might be her father.  
  
It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Michael had caught her after school to accept her invitation. Raven celebrated with her briefly while stirring the pot. She had to go, she wanted to call Charlie and Joe to tell them. Raven suggested - with casual innocence - that maybe Charlie and Joe could go together since Garth was going with Bess, and that maybe Meg, a standoffish girl who had always ignored Raven at the lunch table, could ask Crowley; she had heard he was still available. Jess thought that was a great idea. Now that she was sure of Michael, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished Raven would go to the dance. Giving her the Normal excuse, Raven hung up.  
  
After hanging up Raven tried to concentrate on dinner - dicing the chicken especially; she didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But her head was spinning, and she felt ill.  
  
Her stomach twisted as she thought of what Castiel had meant when he said they shouldn't be friends. What if he saw how absorbed and almost obsessed Raven was by him; he must not want to lead her on... so they couldn't even be friends... because he wasn't interested in her at all.  
  
Of course he wasn't interested in her, Raven thought angrily, eyes stinging - a delayed reaction to the onions. She wasn't interesting. Hell, no one wants a depressed freak who can't even go a day without almost dying. He was. Interesting... and brilliant... and mysterious... and perfect... and beautiful... and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one wing.  
  
Well, that was fine. Raven would leave him alone. She would get through this purgatory, and then hopefully fall off the face of the Earth.Raven focused on the enchiladas and put them in the oven.  
  
Her father seemed suspicious when he came home and smelled the green peppers. Raven couldn't blame him - the closest edible Mexican food was probably in southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting her in the kitchen.  
  
"Dad?" Raven asked when he was almost done.  
  
"Yeah, Raven?"  
  
"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Normal for the day a week from Saturday... if that's okay?" She didn't want to ask permission - it set a bad precedent - but it felt rude, so she tacked it on at the end.  
  
"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Pontiac couldn't offer.  
  
"Well, I wanted to get a few books - the library here is pretty limited - and maybe look at some games or instrumental pieces" Raven currently had more money than she was used to having, since, thanks to her dad, she hadn't had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn't cost quite a bit in the gas department.  
  
"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing her thoughts.  
  
"I know, I'll stop in Bloomington if I have to."  
  
"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and she couldn't tell if he was suspicious she was hiding a secret boyfriend or just worried about car trouble.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Normal is a big city - you could get lost," he fretted.  
  
"Dad, Scranton is just as big as Normal - and I can read a map, don't worry about it."  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?"  
  
Raven tried to be crafty as she hid her horror.  
  
"That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing rooms all day - very boring."  
  
"Oh, okay." The thought of sitting in women's clothing stores for any  
period of time immediately put him off.  
  
"Thanks." She smiled at him.  
  
"Will you be back in time for the dance?"  
  
Grrr. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.  
  
"No - I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that - Raven didn't get her balance problems from my mother after all.  
  
He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized.  
  
The next morning, when Raven pulled into the parking lot, she purposely parked as far from the gold Continental as possible. She didn't want to put herself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car. Getting out of the cab, she fumbled with her key and it fell into a puddle at her feet. As she bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it for her. Jerking up she jumped at the sight of Castiel standing was right next to her, leaning casually against the truck.  
  
"How do you do that?" She asked in amazed irritation.  
  
"Do what?" He held my key out as he spoke. As Raven reached for it, he dropped it into her palm.  
  
"Appear out of thin air."  
  
"Raven it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." His voice was quiet as usual - velvet, muted.  
  
Scowling, Raven retorts

"Or maybe you just need to start wearing a collar with a bell around your neck, or stop showing off your ninja skills"

His eyes were like the ocean again today, a deep, blue color. 

Leaning in to her he says in his low gravely voice, " I think the collar would look better around your neck, especially a green one, to really make your eyes pop with color". As he said this he smirked and brought his hand close to her neck, almost, but not quite making skin contact. 

Then Raven blushed and had to look down, as she attempted to reassemble her now-scrambled thoughts.  
  
"Why the traffic jam last night?" She demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."  
  
"That was for Crowley's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." He snickered.  
  
"You..." Raven gasped. She tried to think of a bad enough word. It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn him, but he only seemed more amused.  
  
"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.  
  
"So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Crowley's van didn't do the job?"  
  
Anger flashed in his ocean eyes as he pressed his lips into a hard line, all signs of humor gone.  
  
"Raven, you are utterly absurd," he said, his low voice cold.  
  
My palms tingled -- as she wished she could hit something. She was surprised at herself. She usually never struggled with being a nonviolent person. But ever since moving here permanently, she's noticed herself slowly changing, becoming more assertive and people actually seemed to want her. She turned her back and tried to walk away.  
  
"Wait," he called. Raven ignored him, sloshing angrily through the rain. But somehow he was able to easily keep pace.  
  
"I'm sorry, that was rude," he said as they walked. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."  
  
"Why won't you leave me alone?" Raven grumbled.  
  
"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," he chuckled. He seemed to have recovered his good humor.  
  
"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" Raven asked severely.  
  
"You're doing it again."  
  
"Fine then. What do you want to ask?"  
  
"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday - you know, the day of the spring dance -"  
  
"Are you trying to be funny?" Raven interrupted him shocked. Her face got drenched as she looked up at his expression.  
  
His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?"  
  
Biting her lip and clasping her hands together, she interlocked her fingers, to avoid doing anything rash.  
  
"I heard you say you were going to Normal, that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."  
  
That was unexpected.  
  
"What?" Raven wasn't sure what he was getting at.  
  
"Do you want a ride to Normal?"  
  
"With who?" She asked, mystified.  
  
"Myself, obviously." He enunciated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.  
  
Still stunned she asked. "Why?"  
  
"Well, I was planning to go to Normal in the next few weeks, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."  
  
"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." Raven started to walk again, but was too surprised to maintain the same level of anger.  
  
"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched her pace again.  
  
"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Lincoln Continental owner.  
  
"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."  
  
"Honestly, Castiel." Raven felt a thrill go through her as she said his name. "I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."  
  
"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."  
  
"Oh, thanks, now that's all cleared up." Heavy sarcasm. Raven realized she had stopped walking again. They were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so she could easily look at his face. Which certainly didn't help her clarity of thought.  
  
"It would be more... prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Raven"  
  
His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence, his voice smoldering. Raven almost couldn't remember how to breathe.  
  
"Will you go with me to Normal?" he asked, still intense.  
  
Unable to speak yet, Raven nodded.  
  
He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious.  
  
"You really should stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."  
  
He turned abruptly and walked back the way they'd come.


	5. Secrets Exposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This starts out similar to chapter 5 of twilight, but then takes a supernatural twist that I thought would be pretty cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for mentions of abuse and neglect.

Raven was in such a daze on her way to class that she didn't notice class had started by the time she got there "Thank you for joining us, Miss Fox," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone. Raven could feel her face catch on fire as she rushed to her seat. Due to a combination of still being dazed, and being so embarrassed that she refused to look up, Raven didn't realize until class ended that Michael wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to her. She hoped this meant he was getting over her.As she finished her thought, she saw Michael and Garth standing by the door waiting. As she got closer, Garth smiled and waved before saying

"Hey Raven, I just wanted to thank you again for sending me to Bess, you were right she did want to ask me, we're even dating now.

Michael seemed subdued, but Raven couldn't find it in her to feel bad. As they continued walking, he started talking about going to the beach if the weekend weather was good. Raven attempted to sound interested , but at this point she really didn't care. Besides even if it didn't rain, the high would still only be in the forties, and that's if they're lucky.

As the morning goes on, Raven began feeling off. Her head was getting really foggy and her stomach felt weird. She hoped that she wasn't getting sick, that was the last thing she needed. She was finding it harder to get Castiel out of her head, especially what he had said, and the way his eyes had looked. She completely gave up trying to pay attention. Finally she decided that if she wasn't better by lunch, she would just leave. That seemed better than staying in class and suffering, at least at home she could sleep. Which is why she was now feeling almost terrified as she and Jessica entered the cafeteria. In Raven's 16 almost 17 years of life she had never once gotten physically I'll. Hell she never even got her period , she was according to her mother, a late bloomer. Raven was pretty sure this wasn't a period though, she felt like she was burning up, and her head was so foggy now she could barely walk straight. She was also pretty sure that if it were a period the blood would have made an appearance by now. Not to mention that all she could think about was being able to see Castiel's face, for some reason she was sure he was the key to feeling better.

Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans - Charlie and Joe had said yes to each other and Meg had asked Crowley and they were all going together - completely unaware of Raven's inattention. Disappointment flooded through Raven as her eyes unerringly focused on his table. The other four were there, but he was absent. Had he gone home? She followed the still-babbling Jessica through the line, crushed. She'd lost my appetite a while ago so all she got was a lemonade. She just wanted to go sit down and silently whither away to nothing. "Castiel Novak is staring at you again," Jessica said, finally breaking through Raven's mind haze with his name. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today." Snapping her head up, Raven followed her gaze to see Castiel, smiling crookedly, staring at her from an empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. Once he'd caught her eye, he raised one hand and motioned with his index finger for her to join him. Staring in disbelief Raven watches as he winked.

"Does he mean you?" Jessica asked with insulting astonishment in her voice. "Maybe he needs help with his Biology homework," Raven muttered for her benefit. "Um, I'd better go see what he wants." Raven felt her friends staring after her as she walked away. As she got closer to his table she started feeling less sick. She was even able to smell him, whatever was wrong seemed to disappear as she stood behind the chair across from him. "Why don't you sit with me today?" he asked, smiling.

As Raven sat down automatically, watching him, she decided it must have been nerves from how they left things earlier that morning. He was still smiling. It was hard to believe that someone so amazing could be real and actually want her around. Raven was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and she would wake up in bed again disappointed. He seemed to be waiting for Raven to speak. "This is different," she finally managed to get out. "Well..." He paused as if trying to find the right words, and then the rest of the words followed in a rush. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly." Raven stared trying to make sense of what he had just said.

Staring at him, she noticed that he seemed to be having trouble concentrating, his eyes looked hazy as he stared at her, letting the seconds tick by. "You know I don't have any idea what you mean," she eventually pointed out. "I know." He smiled again, and then he changed the subject. "I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you." "They'll survive." Raven could feel their stares boring into her back as she watched Castiel's expression clear up the more he talked. "I may not give you back, though," he said with a wicked glint in his eyes. Raven gulped imagining different scenarios those words could provoke. He laughed. "You look worried." "No," she said, but, ridiculously, my voice broke. "Surprised, actually... what brought all this on?" "I told you - I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up." He was still smiling, but his deep blue eyes were serious. "Giving up?" Raven repeated voice full of confusion. "Yes - giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may." His smile faded as he explained, and a hard edge crept into his voice. "You lost me again." The breathtaking crooked smile reappeared. "I always say too much when I'm talking to you - that's one of the problems." "Don't worry - I don't understand any of it," Raven jokes wryly. "I'm counting on that." "So, in plain English, are we friends now?" "Friends..." he mused, dubious. "Or not," Raven sadly muttered.

He grinned. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm no good, you really should avoid me." Behind his smile, the warning was real. "You say that a lot," she noted, trying to ignore the sudden clenching in her stomach and keep her voice from shaking. "Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me." "I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too." Raven narrowed her eyes. He smiled apologetically. "So, as long as I'm being... not smart, we'll try to be friends?" Raven struggled to sum up the confusing exchange. "That sounds about right." Looking down at her hands as they wrapped around the lemonade bottle, Raven wasn't sure what to do. "What are you thinking?" he asked curiously. She looked up into his deep ocean eyes, and became befuddled, and, just like she always does she blurted out the truth. "I'm trying to figure out what you are." His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort. "Are you having any luck with that?" he asked in an offhand tone. "Not too much," she admitted.

He chuckled. "What are your theories?" Raven blushed avoiding eye contact. She had been switching during the last month between theories of him being like Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. There was no way she was going to own up to that. "Won't you tell me?" he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile. Raven shook her head. "Too embarrassing." "That's really frustrating, you know," he complained. "No," Raven disagreed quickly, eyes narrowing, "I can't imagine why that would be frustrating at all - just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking, even if all the while they're making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean... now, why would that be frustrating?" He grimaced. "Or better," she continued, the pent-up annoyance flowing freely now, "say that person also did a wide range of bizarre things - from saving your life under impossible circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and he never explained any of that, either, even after he promised. That, also, would be very non-frustrating." "You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?" "I don't like double standards." They stared at each other, challenging the other to say something. He glanced over her shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, snickered. "What?" "Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you - he's debating whether or not to come break up our fight." He snickered again. "I don't know who you're talking about," Raven said frostily. "But I'm sure you're wrong, anyway." "I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read." "

Except me, of course." "Yes. Except for you." His mood shifted suddenly; his eyes turned brooding. "I wonder why that is." Raven had to look away from the intensity of his stare. She instead concentrated on unscrewing the lid of her lemonade, before taking a swig and staring at the table unseeingly. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted. "No." Raven didn't feel like mentioning how ill she had been all day, until she saw him. "You?" She looked at the empty table in front of him. "No, I'm not hungry." Raven didn't understand his expression - it looked like he was enjoying some private joke. "Can you do me a favor?" She finally asked after a second of hesitation. He was suddenly wary. "That depends on what you want." "It's not much," she assured him. He waited, guarded but curious. "I just wondered... if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I'm prepared." She looked at the lemonade bottle as she spoke, tracing the circle of the opening with her pinkie so she wouldn't have to see the judgement in his eyes.

"That sounds fair." He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing when she looked up. "Thanks." "Then can I have one answer in return?" he demanded. "One." "Tell me one theory." Whoops. "Not that one." "You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," he reminded. "And you've broken promises yourself," Raven challenged him back. "Just one theory - I won't laugh." "Yes, you will." Raven was positive about that. He looked down, and then glanced up through his long black lashes, his eyes scorching. "Please?" he breathed, leaning toward me. Raven blinked, mind going hazy and blank. Holy crow, how did he do that? "Er, what?" She asked, dazed. "Please tell me just one little theory." His eyes still smoldered at me. "Um, well, are you an X-Man ?" Was he a hypnotist, too? Or was I just a hopeless pushover? "That's not very creative," he scoffed. "I'm sorry, that's all I've got," she said, miffed but glad she didn't ask if he was her guardian angel. That would just be too cheesy. "You're not even close," he teased. "No spiders?" "Nope." "And no radioactivity?" "None." "Dang," she sighed. "Kryptonite doesn't bother me, either," he chuckled. "You're not supposed to laugh, remember?" He struggled to compose his face. "I'll figure it out eventually," Raven warned him. "I wish you wouldn't try." He was serious again. "Because... ?" "What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" He smiled playfully, but his eyes were impenetrable. "Oh," she said, as several things he'd hinted fell suddenly into place. "I see." "Do you?" His face was abruptly severe, as if he were afraid that he'd accidentally said too much. "You're dangerous?" She guessed, pulse quickening as she intuitively realized the truth of her own words. He was dangerous. He'd been trying to warn her that all along. He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion she couldn't understand. "But not bad," she whispered, shaking her head confidently. "No, I don't believe that you're bad." "You're wrong." His voice was almost inaudible. He looked down vulnerabley, before stealing her bottle lid and spinning it on its side between his fingers. Raven stared at him, wondering why she didn't feel sick around him, if it was just nerves why were they so bad. Why wasn't she afraid of what he was saying. It was obvious that he believed it himself. But who forced that belief onto him, because they couldn't have been more wrong, yet he seemed unable to believe anything else.

Really she just felt anxious, on edge... and, more than anything else, fascinated. The same way she always felt when she was near him. The silence lasted until Raven noticed that the cafeteria was almost empty. Jumping up, she tries to pull him along "We're going to be late." He seems to be distracted for a minute, like someone called his name before saying "I'm not going to class today," "Why not?" "It's healthy to ditch class now and then." He smiled up at her, it was almost believable except his eyes were still troubled. "I can stay with you," she told him, worried that he would stew in depression if she didn't distract him. He turned his attention back to his makeshift top. "That's ok, I don't want you to get into trouble, especially since your father is the chief of police. I'll seeyou later, though." Raven hesitated, torn, but then the first bell sent her hurrying out the door - with a last glance confirming that he hadn't moved a centimeter. As she half-ran to class, Raven's head was spinning faster than the bottle cap. And her stomach started cramping again. She wished she had just stayed with him, she wasn't sure what was going on. Hopefully she just wasn't feeling right from running and this would stop as soon as she caught her breath. Raven was at least lucky enough to get there before Miss. Mosely. Getting settled quickly into her seat, she was aware that both Michael and Charlie were staring at her. Michael looked resentful; Charlie looked surprised, and slightly awed. Miss. Mosely came in the room then, calling the class to order. She was juggling a few small cardboard boxes in her arms. She put them down on Michael's table, telling him to start passing them around the class.

"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," she said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of her lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first should be an indicator card," she went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicator -" she held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "- and the third is a sterile micro-lancet." She held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance. Raven's stomach flipped again and she started feeling hazy again. "I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." She began at Michael's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares. "Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet..." She grabbed Michael's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of his middle finger. Oh no. Raven could feel a sweat breaking out in her head as her stomach gave a painful clench. "Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." She demonstrated, squeezing Michael's finger until the blood flowed. Raven swallowed convulsively, her stomach heaving as a bunch of horrible scents filled the air. "And then apply it to the card," she finished, holding up the dripping red card for everyone to see. Raven closed her eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in her ears. "The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Bloomington next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type." She sounded proud of herself. "Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission - I have slips at my desk." She continued through the room with her water drops.

Raven put her cheek against the cool black tabletop and tried not to pass out as all the sounds and scents seemed to come together and suffocate her. . All around her there were squeals, complaints, and giggles as her classmates skewered their fingers. No one seemed to notice as Raven's knees buckled on her and she collapsed on to the floor. A few minutes later she felt herself being shaken "Raven, are you all right?" Miss. Mosely asked. Her voice was close to her head, and it sounded alarmed. "I think something is wrong with me, Miss. Mosely.' Raven tried to say in a weak voice. She was afraid to sit up or raise her head. "Can someone take Raven to the nurse, please?" She called. Raven didn't have to look up to know that it would be Michael who volunteered. "Can you walk?" Miss. Mosely asked. "Yes," she whispered. Just let me get out of here, she thought. She'll crawl if needed. Michael seemed eager as he put his arm around Raven's waist and pulled her arm over his shoulder. I tried to lean away from him on the way out of the classroom. He smelled wrong, and alarm bells were blaring in Raven's head. All she could think about was how she needed Cas. Michael dragged her slowly across campus. When they were around the edge of the cafeteria, out of sight of building four in case Miss. Mosely was watching, Raven stopped. "Let go of me Michael, please?" She begged. She couldn't stand the scent of him anymore, and her head was too foggy to know which way was up anymore. Her stomach cramped to the point where she couldn't move without crippling pain shooting through her. As he tried to make her walk again he took his hand and put one on her ass, and the other near her breast preparing to leave her and physically drag her like a rag doll "Get your hands off me I can't keep walking" Raven warned. She was still so dizzy. She shoved and kicked away from him and slumped over on her side, putting her cheek against the freezing, damp cement of the sidewalk, closing her eyes and enjoying how the coolness helped focus her a bit. That seemed to help a little but she still felt her vision slowly going in and out "Come on Raven we need to get you to the nurse," Michael said going to grab her again.

"Raven?" a familiar voice called from the distance. Yes! Please don't let her be imagining that achingly familiar voice. "What's wrong - is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. Raven wasn't imagining it. She squeezed her eyes shut, taking in the smell of Cinnamon, Ozone, and orange zest it smelled off though the orange was rotten and the cinnamon stale, instead of fresh ozone it was like lightening. Michael seemed stressed. "She fainted in Biology and I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger." "Raven." Castiel's voice was right beside me, even more concerned now. "Can you hear me?" "No," she groaned. "Go away." He chuckled nervously. "I was taking her to the nurse," Michael explained in a defensive tone, "but she refused to go any farther and freaked out when I went to pick her up and drag her." "I'll take her," Castiel said. Raven could hear the fondness in his voice. "You can go back to class." "No," Michael protested. "I'm supposed to do it." Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath her and Raven got ready to attack whoever it was who grabbed her. Seeing it was Castiel who had scooped her up, as easily as if she weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred. "Put me down!" Please, please don't let her vomit on him. He was walking before she even finished talking. "Hey!" Michael called, already ten paces behind them. Castiel ignored him as Raven threw her arms around his neck and snuggled into his protective hold, hiding her head into his neck, close to the pulse point. "You look awful," he told her, frowning as he let out a soothing scent. "I think I'm dying Cas," Raven moaned. The rocking movement of his walk was not helping. He held her closer to him as she said that, using the heat from his body to keep her warm. He was supporting all her weight with just his arms, though it didn't seem to bother him.

"So you faint at the sight of blood?" he asked. "No it wasn't the blood that made me faint. Blood has never bothered me." This seemed to confuse him more. Tilting his head, he asked, " if it wasn't the blood, what made you pass out?" Raven closed her eyes again and fought the nausea with all her strength, clamping her lips together. She tried to find a way to answer without being deemed insane. "I'm not exactly sure. I've been feeling ill all day and it just got worse. It started out feeling hazy, sort of like nothing was real, then I started getting really bad stomach pains. Everything was too bright and loud. Then it kept getting worse to the point where my vision would fade in and out during class, I couldn't focus at all and the pain became so bad I could barely walk. I felt like I was burning alive and like my skin was trying to crawl away. At lunch I was thinking of leaving but then I saw you and you ushered me over, and I felt this pull, the closer I got to you the better I felt. Then I smelled you and holy shit, your scent was amazing, it was cinnamon and orange zest, and fresh ozone. I couldn't get over how amazing that combination was. I thought it had just been nerves and everything else was imagined but then we separated and everything came back only 20x worse. My head was so hazy that I barely remembered how to stand, and the noise and lights just kept getting worse. The fever was getting higher and higher, to the point where I thought I was going to combust from the heat. Then during class everyone got so loud and there were so many horrible smells and they were suffocating. I guess the combination eventually made me pass out because I woke up to Miss. Mosely calling my name and asking if I could walk. Then she made me go with Michael to the nurse and I just couldn't. Every step felt crippling and his scent was horrible, I don't know why but it freaked me out, I kept wishing it was your scent and alarm bells were blaring in my head so I collapsed and tried to make him leave me alone but then he tried putting his one arm around my waste with his hand on my ass and his other was grazing my breast and he tried forcing me to go with him, I got scared and kicked away from him and yelled at him to keep his hands to himself. Then I heard your voice and basically hoped you would help me because lately Michael has been obsessive and it's freaking me out."

Raven felt Castiel stiffen as she told him about her day, once she was done he seemed to sniffed the air. Raven swears she hears him moan quietly before tightening his hold on her and-- wait, is he purring? What the fuck? Raven can feel a small vibrating in his chest before he leans closer to her ear and whispering, "Don't worry about Michael if he gets weird again I'll be right by your side to make sure he doesn't do anything." Then he whispers something in the same language he used when saving her from Crowley's car and takes another subtle sniff this time of her hair. Raven let herself feel flattered that she apparently smelled as good to him as he did to her. Raven wasn't sure how he opened the door while carrying her, but it was suddenly warmer, so she knew they were inside. "Oh my," she heard a female voice gasp. "She fainted in Biology," Castiel explained. Opening her eyes Raven saw they were in the office, and Castiel was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Castiel swung Raven into the room and placed her gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the cot. Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. His eyes were bright, excited and looked like they held something wild in them. "She's been feeling ill all day and just fainted in Biology" he explained to the startled nurse. "She felt like she had a fever." The nurse nodded sagely grabbing a thermometer. "I'm going to need you to sit up for me dear." He muffled a growl as the nurse put the disposable tip in Raven's ear while running another thermometer across her forhead to compare results. "Just lie down for a minute, honey; you're temperature is 103.6." Castiel frowned in concern at that. Raven sighed as the nurse asked "Does this happen a lot?" "Not really," Raven admitted. Castiel coughed to hide another growl at the nurses closeness. "You can go back to class now," she told him. "I'm supposed to stay with her." He said this with such assured authority that - even though she pursed her lips - the nurse didn't argue it further. "I'll go get you some ice for your fever, dear," she said to Raven, and then bustled out of the room. 

"You were right," Raven moaned, letting her eyes close. "I usually am - but about what in particular this time?" "Ditching is healthy." She practiced breathing evenly. "You scared me for a minute there," he admitted after a pause. His tone made it sound like he was confessing a humiliating weakness. "I thought Angelus was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods." "Ha ha." She still had her eyes closed, and was taking in the scent of Castiel's concern. "Honestly - I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder." "Poor Michael didn't get what he wanted I'll bet he's mad." Raven laughed sarcastically "He absolutely loathes me," Castiel said cheerfully. "You can't know that," I laughed but then she wondered suddenly if he could. "I saw his face - I could tell." "How did you see me? I thought you were ditching" "I was in my car, listening to a CD." Such a normal response - it surprised her. "I'm glad you saw me Cas, I really was terrified, not just of Michael but this whole situation in itself. Before coming to live here permanently, I was never sick a day in my life, for some reason my immune system has always been perfect. But ever since coming here I can feel something in me changing, I'm more outspoken, the boys seem obsessed with me and I have no idea why, and now I'm sick. I really was afraid I was dying, it's still possible that I am. I'm just glad to have you, even if you believe you're evil, I can see your light and I feel honored that you agreed to be my friend. Without you I would have given up a while ago. So thank you for helping me through this Cas, because if you weren't here now I'd definitely still be terrified and alone.''

Hearing the door Raven opened her eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand and some Tylenol."Here you go, dear." "I think I should call your father, love" she added. "If he isn't able to come and get her can you ask his permission for me to take her home and care for her until he can get there, I don't think it's fair to Raven for her to be here longer than necessary." Castiel said while helping Raven sit up. After at least a 15 minute conversation with Raven's father the nurse hung up, but the door opened and Ms. Cope stuck her head in. "We've got another one," she warned. Raven hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid. Raven handed the compress back to the nurse. "Here, I don't need this." And then Michael staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Kevin Tran, another boy in their Biology class. Castiel and Raven drew back against the wall to give them room. "Oh no," Castiel muttered. "Go out to the office, Raven." She looked up at him, bewildered. "Trust me - go," he commanded. Raven spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. She could feel Castiel right behind her. "You actually listened to me." He was stunned. "I didn't want to be near Michael, and something in your voice made me feel like I should listen." Raven said, Michael came through the door then, glancing from Raven to Castiel. The look he gave Cas confirmed what he had said about loathing. He looked back at Raven, his eyes steely. "You look better," he accused. "Just keep your hands to yourself." Raven warned him again. "We're not alone anymore" he muttered. "Are you going back to class?" "Are you kidding? Does she look like she's healthy enough to go to class?" "All this drama over a little blood? Is the nurse seriously sending you home over that?" "Seeing as I've been sick all day and have a fever of 103.6, yeah she is" "Yeah, I guess thats bad, So are you going this weekend? To the beach?"

While he spoke, he flashed another glare toward Castiel, who was standing right next to Raven and had put his arm around her shoulder to show his support. Raven tried not to yell at him as she said, " Michael I just told you I have a high fever, and am super sick and all you ask about is your trip?" "We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten." His eyes flickered to Castiel again, wondering if he was giving out too much information. His body language made it clear that it wasn't an open invitation. "Michael, I can barely stand now, what makes you think I want to sit on a beach in 40° weather even if I was better by than?," He glared at her and grabbed her arm, squeezing as hard as he could. "You promised you'd go. Honestly you've been a shitty friend lately. First you refuse to go to the dance with me, then you avoid me, now you're canceling another plan? For what?" He squeezes harder with each word he says. As Raven whimpers softly in pain, Castiel surges forward and knocks Michael back, forcing him to release his grip on Raven. Getting in his face, Castiel growls "what part of keep your hands to yourself do you not understand? Raven is extremely ill and she doesn't need you making it worse." As Castiel steps backwards, he doesn't take his eyes off Michael as he gently takes Raven's hand and checks her arm. There's already a bruise in the shape of his hand forming. As they see it Castiel growls, eyes flashing electric blue, and Michael seems to regret what he did. "I'm sorry Raven, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just miss hanging out with you. Maybe I can make it up to you, I can--- Before he can get any further Ms. Cope comes out of the nurses office, holding a slip of paper. "All right Raven, sorry for the delay, your father has agreed to let Castiel take you home and care for you until he's able to leave work and do it himself. We just need you to sign this document and you're free to go." After signing it Castiel puts his arm around Raven and whispers, "go along with it, this way he won't follow us." Raven subtly nods and leans into him. "Goodbye dear, I hope you feel better soon," Ms. Cope tells her with a sincere smile. Raven waves goodbye with a soft thank you, and turns around. "Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" "I'll walk, I don't want to get sick on you Cas." As Raven walked carefully, still feeling the pain, especially after what Michael did, she felt a mixture of emotions. As they walk past Michael, he frowns and gives Raven a pout. "I really am sorry Raven, are you sure you want to go with Novak? You don't even know him that well. He and his family are a bunch of freaks, he might--" Raven interrupted him before he could continue, "Enough Michael, I trust Cas with my life, I know he'd never hurt me, and neither he or his family are freaks. However I can't say the same for you.'' Castiel held the door for her his smile polite but his eyes glaring at Michael. As they walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall, Raven can't help think that it felt nice against her fevered skin.

"Thanks, for helping me back there Cas, I don't understand why he's getting so obsessed" Raven said as he followed her out. "It's alright Raven, I can definitely see why it's starting to freak you out, I've never seen him act like that before." He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain. "So what vehicle are we taking?" Raven asked him. "If it's ok with you I'd rather take mine, I'm more comfortable driving that than a truck. Not to mention I don't think you're healthy enough to drive." Raven nods in understanding, then frowns. "How will we get my truck home? Won't they tow it?" "I'll ask Sam to drive it to your house, let's just hide the key on the top of the back wheel, you'd have to know it's there to find it." "Thanks Cas." Chuckling he says "oh I wouldn't thank me yet, Sam is probably going to bring Gabe, and he's quite the character. But it's that or nothing because Dean never let's anyone drive his baby, and Anna never goes anywhere without him. Besides Sam is probably the only one comfortable enough to drive that monstrosity, other than you of course." Raven laughs at that. Castiel starts towing Raven toward his car now, pulling her by my jacket. It was she could do to keep from falling. He seems to notice what he's doing, because he blushes before saying "Apologies, I seem to have gotten overexcited. It's just I know you've seen my car from the outside, but she's amazing while driving. And you should probably sit soon before you strain yourself." Raven couldn't help but think how adorable he is when he's not being mysterious. Then they finally reach his car. Raven stumbled against the passenger door laughing. "You are so pushy!" Castiel chuckled. "It's open," was all he responded. He got in the driver's side. "Wow, she's a real beauty." He smiled almost shyly as he fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the parking lot, Raven was starting to feel ill again when she recognized the music playing, and curiosity distracted her, "Clair de Lune?" She asked, surprised. "You know Debussy?" He sounded surprised, too. "Pretty well" she admitted. "My mother was always going out and leaving me alone so sometimes I would play random music. I got into learning musical instruments, and when we were still getting along Mom bought me a violin to help with my depression, which got me into classical music, I'd practice for hours - this was one of my favorites." "It's one of my favorites, too." He stared out through the rain, lost in thought. "Do you still play?" Raven smiled before answering " yes, I love practicing violin, it plays the emotions so well. I learned a few others too but violin will always be my favorite."

"What is your mother like?" he asked her suddenly. Raven glanced over to see him studying her with curious eyes. "She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier," she said. He raised his eyebrows. "I have too much of my father in me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a very unpredictable cook. She used to be my best friend." Raven stopped. Talking about her was making Raven depressed. "How old are you, Raven?" His voice sounded frustrated for some reason she couldn't imagine. He'd stopped the car, and Raven realized they were at her house already. The rain was so heavy that she could barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river. As they ran into the house Raven got them changes of clothes while Castiel started looking for something to make her. When she came back they continued where they left off. "I'm sixteen, I'll be 17 in a few weeks" she responded, a little confused. "You don't seem sixteen." His tone was reproachful; it made her laugh. "What?" he asked, curious again. "My mom always used to say I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year." Raven laughed sadly, then sighed. "Well, someone had to be the adult." Raven paused for a second. "You don't seem much like a junior in high school yourself," she noted. He made a face and changed the subject.

"So why did your mother marry Bryan?" Raven was surprised he would remember the name; she had only mentioned it once, almost two months ago. It took her a moment to answer. "My mother... she's very young for her age. I think Bryan makes her feel taken care of. At any rate, she's crazy about him." Raven shook her head. The attraction was a mystery to her. "Do you approve?" he asked. "Does it matter?" She countered. "I want her to be happy... and he is who she wants." "That's very generous... I wonder," he mused. "What?" "Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?" He was suddenly intent, his eyes searching mine. "I-I think so, at least in the past she would have, she doesn't really want anything to do with me anymore." Raven stuttered sadly. "But she's the one who matters in the end, not me. So I'm just relieved she found someone to love her." "What do you mean she's the one who matters?" he asked incredulously. Raven gave a sad smile in response. "What do you think I mean by it?" " I think that someone has been beating you down, and that they did it enough that you eventually started believing them, so tell me was it Bryan or your mother?" He asked it like a question but his tone suggested he wanted an answer. Raven tried to stall by eating the soup he made and taking more Tylenol, but eventually that new voice in her head won over and she blurted out, "I suppose it depends on how you look at it. My mother took me away while I was less than 6 months old. I didn't grow up in the best enviorment. Mom tried her best at first, and she really was my best friend. But I have depression and anxiety issues and they get worse the longer I'm alive. Every summer I would come here and dad would take me to the forest, and we'd play. I always felt happier here. When I had to leave it was a complete relapse into depression . Eventually mom noticed, and she blamed herself at first. Then she met Bryan, and she was happier. The day we met I was hiding in my room, trying to remember why it was I stuck around, and my mom knocks on the door and introduces us. He took one look at me and walked out the room dragging my mom with him. I'm not sure what he told her, but she started hating me after that. "

"What's your definition of hate?" " She just stopped being friendly, whenever I got depressed she would roll her eyes. The one day she was trying to force me to go on a date with a friend's kid, but I didn't want to because he was super creepy you know? So I kept refusing, until finally she had enough, she let Bryan break my door down and "discipline" me. He ended up beating me bad enough that I messed school for a week by the time the night was over. He said he would stop when I agreed to date the kid, but I refused. When mom saw me she almost looked concerned but he looked her in the eye and said "spare the rod, spoil the child" she just agreed and said I brought it on myself."

Raven could see him clenching the table in anger. "Was that the only time it happened?"  
"No that was just the beginning, any time I was depressed or having an anxiety attack mom would go to him and he'd give me a reason to be sad. Eventually they stopped letting me come up here, Dad had to visit their house if he wanted to see me. During those times if I fucked up, they'd wait until dad went out for a while before punishing me. There were a few times where he said if I wanted to mope around my room, I could stay there. They put the door back on, put bars on the window and locked me in. They wouldn't feed me or give me water for days at a time. Mom got sick of being around me, so they mainly went to his house, but whenever they were home it was painful. The breaking point was when they put me in a mental hospital . I was already starving because they hadn't let me out of my room for a month, they'd pass in water and food twice a week, if two pieces of bread count as food that is . I stockpiled the water so I wouldn't die of dehydration. Eventually I got sick of it, so I tried killing myself. They found me and brought me back, beat me then took me to a mental Ward and gave them permission to use shock therapy if needed."

How long were you there?" " Three months, by the time I got out I was almost a normal weight and they had me doped up on medicine that made me a zombie. As soon as I got home, mom dumped them down the toilet saying that she wouldn't allow drugs in her home. Then she announced that she would be going with Bryan wherever he traveled and I could either be normal and go with them, or find somewhere else to live. I chose to come back here, because it was the only place that ever made me happy, now look at me, dying of some illness and telling my life story to you. Yet I'm still happy, because I know you at least care. I'm not alone anymore."

"Does your father know what they did to you?" "No, and I'd really prefer he didn't, I'm not even completely sure why I told you, other than the fact that there's something about you that I know you won't judge me. If dad found out his memory of my mom would be ruined, and that would destroy him. I really am happy that she found someone who loves her that she feels happy with. I want my dad to find the same thing and he won't be able to if he knows because the guilt will eat at him and he'll self destruct." "Raven I don't understand, they tortured you, maybe your mom didn't physically do it, but she allowed it to happen, and she mentally tore you down and that's just as bad!" "She was sick of me Cas, I ruined her life, I can't fault her for letting the punishments happen when I deserved them." "I don't think you deserved them Raven, depression and anxiety are chemical I'm balances, and the result of a situation a person is in. You couldn't help that." "Can we drop the subject of my mom, please, it makes me depressed and I already feel like crap."

Castiel frowned sadly and with concern, before putting his arm around Raven gently. "Why don't I help you up to bed, you can rest and I'll tell you some things about my family, I won't even be offended if you fall asleep while I do." "Thanks Cas." As Raven goes to stand, her legs give out on her again and she starts to crumble, but before she can hit the ground, she feels Cas cradleing her against his chest. "Careful there Raven, we don't want you cracking your head."  
He raised one eyebrow, and the faint trace of a smile lightened his face.

As he gently laid Raven into her bed, he tucked her in and sat next to her, running a hand softly through her hair. "Are you feeling any better?" Raven thought for a moment, wondering whether the truth or a lie would go over better. She decided to go with the truth. "Not really. You've been distracting me and taking my mind off it, which has been helping more than you could ever know. But it keeps getting worse, I'm getting to the point where I have to struggle just to talk. Even with the Tylenol I can feel the fever. And I'm really just confused about why I can suddenly smell you these past few days. Your scent is so soothing it makes me feel like sleeping. " "You should rest then. I'll stay right here by your side until your dad gets home, I promise you. I'll even keep talking and telling stories. Just rest while you can, this will probably get worse before it gets better." Raven sighed before relaxing into the bed as Cas slipped a wet cloth on her head. "So, now are you going to tell me about your family?" She asked him. "It's got to be a much more interesting story than mine."

He gave her a gummy smile. "What do you want to know?" "The Shirleys adopted you?" . "Yes." There was a moment of hesitation before she asked. "What happened to your parents?" "They died many years ago." His tone was matter-of-fact. "I'm sorry," Raven mumbled. "I don't really remember them that clearly. Chuck and Becky have been my parents for a long time now." "And you love them." It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way he spoke of them. "Yes." He smiled. "I couldn't imagine two better people." "You're very lucky." "I know I am." "And your brothers and sister?" He looked up as if in thought, "They are... Protective. Gabriel is my actual brother. He feels very protective of me just because I was so young when we lost our family. He's a trickster in nature, doesn't like to take anything seriously. But he's loyal to those he loves. Sam is a giant, and the only one other than me that Gabe let's his defenses down for. Sam protects those he loves, but would die in a heartbeat for Gabe or Dean. There was a time where he didn't feel good enough, he got into a lot of trouble . We were worried about him, he nearly died, but then He and Gabe got together, and Gabe slowly got him to be better. Now they're inseparable. Dean is a hard head. He hates being vulnerable, his father made sure from a young age that Dean knew emotions made you weak, and the only thing he was good for was taking care of Sammy. Dean still has trouble knowing we love him. He loves Anna with all his heart, but even now if he was forced to choose between her and Sam, Sam would always win. He tries so hard to spare everyone of pain that he forgets himself. I admire him most out of all my siblings and I also have never been more infuriated by anyone either. Finally there's Anna, she's a sweetheart. She handled us moving in pretty well. She's an artist, loves to draw and paint. Very patient, one has to be if they're dealing with Dean. She truly is the sweetest of us all, but she has a streak to her. She met Dean's dad once, I never laughed so hard as when she made him piss his pants."

"You're family sounds amazing" Raven whispered nearly asleep. Cas chuckled before tucking her in and replacing the cloth on her head. Not long later as Raven whimpered and tossed in her sleep, Cas tried to sooth her with his scent, as he did he could smell her scent spiking. Just as he covered his nose, the front door opened and Raven leapt out of bed. Looking at Castiel, she whimpers.

"Alpha?"

Castiel stiffened as she said that. "It's ok Omega, it's just your father. I'm going to have to leave, but I'll come back when I'm able to ok?" He gave her his trenchcoat and left the room. Raven's father thanked him as he left.

Raven heard someone knock on her door before it opened. "Hey Raven you ok sweetie?" 

"What's going on dad? I've never been sick now I'm dying and called Cas Alpha. I don't understand anymore."

"I'm sorry honey, there's something I need to tell you. First of all, you're not dying . Second of all I need you to keep an open mind ok?" 

"Ok"

"There's this thing in my family, it goes back to the witch hunting days. My however many greats there are grandmother helped this witch escape, and as thanks, she did this ritual, that affects every female in my family, including you. It was originally supposed to help them find their soulmates and they'd become really fertile once they met. Then my great grandmother, found her soulmate, who ended up being a skinwalker. When they had children, the spell combined with his skinwalker Dna. Any female children they had, would eventually be able to change into an animal that has a mating season, but not until the end of their first heat or rut. Any males in the family carry the gene, but don't get the traits themselves. At first I didn't believe it, but then my grandma on my dad's side showed me. She was able to transform into a fox. We told your mother, and at first she thought she'd be able to do it, but when she couldn't, she took you and ran. Said she wouldn't let them turn you into a freak. She eventually made the summer visits stop when she found out you were getting close to the transformation age. She finally gave up when you never had a period I guess."

Raven had begun crying halfway through the story. "Is that why mom hates me ? Why she always called me a freak after I turned 12? Is that why she refuses to talk to me now?"

''I don't know honey, I'm sorry." 

"So am I presenting now? Is that why I'm sick?" 

"Yeah honey, it seems you're in heat. It usually lasts 3-5 days. Since this is your presentation heat it's probably going to last 7 days. I'm sorry honey it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. " He blushes and looks away as he says the next part. "My grandmother told me that orgasms stop the pain. And clears the haze, so I bought you some... supplies to help with that." 

Raven gave a mortefied squeak as he gave her a bag full of sex toys. "Thanks Dad this is embarrassing but thank you for caring."

"You're welcome. I'll be feeding you every hour or so to keep your energy up. Do you have any other questions?"

"Do I choose the animal I turn into?"

"No, sorry honey it goes off you're personality." 

"Are there any dangers I should know about?"

''''Dont go out when you're in heat. Even human men go nuts over an unmated Omega in heat. Speaking of which, were you ok with Castiel? He seemed calm but in a rush to leave. Did he hurt you?"

"No he was a gentleman. I have a feeling he knew about the heat thing, he kept me calm and kept other boys away. Although I guess that explains why Michael went nuts."

"Are you ok?"

"Oh yeah Castiel kept him away from me. Do you know when I'll transform? And how to turn back?"

"Probably around day 4. I'm going to call Grandma to help with that."

"Am I a skinwalker now? Do I have any other powers?"

"No you're technically not a skinwalker, although depending on what animal you are you'll get better sight, hearing, and smell. You'll heal faster and you might be more graceful and athletic. And with time you'll be able to transform whenever you want. But unlike a skinwalker you can't infect anyone else, and while you may live longer than a normal person, you won't live forever. And as a bonus, silver shouldn't hurt you the way it would a regular skinwalker." 

"Thanks Dad that's all I can think of. Do you mind if I sleep while I can though?"

"Sure honey, goodnight I love you sweet dreams. I'll be right down the hall if you need anything."

"Night dad I love you too."

After he shut the door Raven layed there and full of dread as she thought about how bad this would get. As she closed her eyes she thought about how Cas could have known what she was and what he might be.


End file.
